The Keeper
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: "In the dawn of the new day, the Keeper of Earth shall awaken and take back control of the power vacuum that has been shaking our world." In the League's quest to search for this mysterious weapon, a new girl arrives in town with a connection to one of the members, and the key to finding this weapon.
1. New Girl

**Author's Note: Yes, _another_ story. But I have been watching Supergirl and loving it. I'm not exactly sure where this would be in the story. I'm just going to say Justice League since everyone will be making cameos, but I'm not sure if there is a better place to put this story. Anyway, let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,611**

I force myself not to look at my watch for the hundredth time since I was forced to crawl out of my taxi halfway to my destination due to backed up traffic. I am late. But I would have been later, had I stayed in the car. I wouldn't be sweaty or gross, though. I glance down at my phone while waiting for the light to turn green so that I can cross over to the next street. I have a missed call. I redial.

As soon as the phone is picked up I'm immediately talking, "I am so sorry Lois! I know that I'm running late but I was caught in traffic. I swear I'm just down the street."

A laugh. "Relax," Lois says. I can hear the grin in her voice. "I figured you'd be late. You haven't been in Metropolis long enough to properly judge the time just yet. No hurt feelings. Just get here when you can. No rush. By the way, since I have you on the phone, you don't mind if I have a friend come to coffee with us, do you?" There is the sound of someone talking in the background. "Shh, Smallville, I told you it'll be fine," she says away from the phone, then to me. "You don't mind, right?"

"Of course not," I say, fast walking across the street once the light of the person walking lit up. "I don't mind. The more the merrier, right? I should be there in like, five minutes!"

Lois laughs. "Are you sure?" She sounds really amused.

I look around for a moment, wondering if I was going the right way. "Um, maybe ten minutes."

She laughs again. "That's what I thought. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Lois."

"Bye."

I was close. It took me about fifteen minutes to finally get to the coffee shop that Lois asked me out to the night before after I hung up the phone with her. I felt bad for being late. Thankfully the shop was small, sparsely occupied but very homey. A bell chimed as I walked in and I spotted Lois immediately, throwing her head back in a gleeful laugh in the corner of the store, sitting across from a man.

His eyes flicker up toward me when I walked in. He says something to Lois and she spins around in her chair, eyes finding me immediately. She smiles brightly and waves me to them. I make my way over to them, sitting down in the only other available seat between them.

"This is my friend from work," Lois says, gesturing toward the tall, dark haired man with shocking electric blue eyes. "Smallville."

He studied me curiously and I had to look away. He was a very attractive man. Square jaw, strong nose but kind smile. His eyes flicker over to Lois for a moment, playfully amused before holding his hand out for me to take. "That's what Lois calls me. I'm Clark Kent."

I place my hand in his. My hand feels tiny in comparison. Like a child's hand wrapped up in a full grown adult's. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Samantha Kennedy." I smile.

"Sorry for imposing on you two. I was just stopping by to pick up some coffee and was stiff armed into staying. I can leave if I'm in the way," Clark says slowly, sounding completely sincere in leaving if he was really in the way. Lois rolls his eyes, giving me the impression that he's like that naturally. I immediately like him.

"You're fine," I tell him, meaning it. Clark smiles more at that. "So, you and Lois are friends?"

Lois nods. "Yeah, we go way back, ain't that right, Smallville?"

Clark shakes his head, smiling charmingly. "I wouldn't use the words "way back" but yes. We've known each other for a long time." With his smile still in place, his blue eyes scan the room for a moment, as if looking for something. He doesn't give away if he found what he was looking for or not, but succeeded in making me feel a bit paranoid, like there was something behind me.

"So, Clark," I say slowly, running my hands up and down my arms, wishing I had decided to wear something more than a three quarter sleeve shirt and a ripped pair of jeans, "do you work at the Daily Planet with Lois?"

His eyes lock onto me but his smile doesn't leave his face. "Yeah, we're co-workers but we met before we started working together."

I raise my eyebrows in interest. "Really? That must be fun, working with a friend."

Clark and Lois both smile at each other, the years together showing in their expressions. It's Lois that responds, "It has it's perks, I suppose." She winks at Clark who smiles back, shaking his head slowly. He takes a moment to sip of his coffee, leisurely.

I take this moment to stand up and get myself a drink as well. As I'm up there, looking through their selection, Clark calls out, "What about yourself, Samantha? How do you and Lois know each other, if you don't mind me asking." I quickly order something that sounds good before looking back over at Clark and Lois.

Lois makes an amused noise in her throat, lifting her cup to her lips, looking at me with sparkling green eyes, obviously amused. I stare at her for a moment, sucking in a deep breath before the woman behind the counter, the only other person in the store besides myself, Lois and Clark, to get my iced drink.

I bring my coffee back over to the table and sit down, taking a quick sip before answering, "Lois interviewed me a few months ago for an article that she was writing for the Planet, and we've kept in touch since. Although that was when I was living pretty far from here. I just recently moved down here about a week ago, for my job and Lois has been helping me out. She's a real saint."

Lois smiles around the rim of her cup, obviously pleased by my choice of description. Clark glances over at her, amused, before laying his own cup down and leaning back in his chair, blue eyes returning to my face. "What do you do for a living, Samantha?"

I sip at my iced coffee, shivering a bit. The air conditioning is up pretty high in this place. But their coffee is good. I'll definitely come back here again. I put my coffee down and run my hands up and down my arms in an effort to sooth my tingling flesh. "Um, I study people for a living. Psychology, really. The human brain mostly. I was writing a piece about the human mind in accordance to..." I falter, seeing Clark and Lois, blankly staring at me. They were politely listening but I've been around enough people to know that this isn't usually interesting.

"Is something wrong?" Clark asks, black eyebrows raised.

"No," I say quickly. "Sorry about that. Um, what I was saying, basically, the paper I was writing was getting a lot of attention in my field and Lois was the one that interviewed me about it."

"That's interesting," Clark says and I wonder how much he means it. I can already tell he's a very kind man, very placating, I see, so I have to wonder how genuine he really is about it being interesting. I just highly doubt he would say anything rude or off-putting if he could help it. He was calm and relaxed, but he was careful with his words and actions, as if always calculating other people's reactions. But there was also something about him that was also... naïve. Almost like he was experiencing a lot of things so new to him. It was strange.

"Thank you," I say quietly.

Lois's phone beeps, pulling our attention over to her. She pulls out her phone and clicks a few buttons, eyes scanning the screen before putting her phone back into her purse and crossing her legs. At Clark's inquisitive look, she smiles and shakes her head. "It's nothing. Just an email. So, Sammy, lets talk about how you're adjusting to Metropolis."

I move my cup back and forth from one hand to the other, sliding across the table. "I'm good. Still unpacking, trying to find my way around everywhere. It's a lot different than the little town I lived in before. There is a lot of people and noise and..." I didn't know how to explain it. I just wave my hands around, hoping that they understood.

"I get that," Clark says, genuinely. "Smallville was, well, small. It's... um, quite something trying to acclimate to Metropolis, but it'll be alright. I'm certain you'll be just fine. If you need any help, we will be here to help, right Lois?"

Lois looks pleased. "We sure will be, Smallville." Her eyes flicker over to me and I knew the bad feeling I've been trying to ignore since I got here should have been headed. "So, Sam, would you mind if I bailed a little early? I have a big story coming up and Smallville is almost as helpful as I am when it comes to the sights to see and the places to be around Metropolis. We will definitely be able to catch dinner next time, right?"

I glance over at Clark, who appeared to have come to the same conclusion as I did. His tongue presses against his cheek, pushing it out. It gives me the impression that Lois does things like this more often than not. Clark doesn't appear to be overly upset, but I can tell this has happened to him many times, so he's become used to it. Which doesn't bode well for me.

I like Clark. I mean, I haven't known him long, nor do I know him well, but I would like the chance to at least become friends before I lose the chance forever because of my horrible personality and many flaws. I don't need Lois to ruin relationships for me, I can do that perfectly fine on my own. Thank you very much. I appreciate it though.

Lois takes a moment to look around at the two of us, curiously, probably looking for one of us to tell her that it wasn't okay but I wasn't going to be the one to do it. I think it's a bit rude, giving the impression that I didn't want to be left alone with Clark even though I'm almost positive that he's a good person. I don't want him to be given the impression that I wouldn't want to be alone with him.

Not that I _wouldn't_ want to be alone with him. I just... shit.

Clark didn't say anything either, just stare at Lois with a look that I didn't understand but she obviously did. Lois grins, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth, before she jumps up, giving both of us a wink and flying out the door with a sultry, "Play nice now, kids," before she's gone.

There is a painfully awkward silence that settles over us, broken only by the scratching of Clark's coffee mug sliding back and forth across the surface of the table going from one hand tot he other. I watch the movement for almost an entire minute before raising my eyes to Clark's unbelievably pretty blue eyes and awkwardly saying, "I think she had an ulterior motive inviting me here."

Clark, thankfully, let out a little laugh, his smile relieved. "Perhaps. But to be honest, it was just a coincidence that I ended up being here. I think she did have the intension of spending the day with you but when I ended up coming too..." he trails off.

"She couldn't help herself," I finish for him. He nods and does a little shrug. His smile is boyish and charming.

"Yeah," he says. "Lois just... likes to be in charge. She likes to be the reason that something happens, regardless of what it is." He smiles more apologetically now. "I'm sorry about her."

I shake my head. "Don't worry," I say softly, sloshing my drink around a bit without spilling. "I mean, yeah, this is a little awkward. But I can appreciate the fact that she's trying to help me. Maybe not so much in my love life, or lack thereof, but in the friend department. This... it doesn't have to be weird, right?"

Clark shakes his head. "No," he says easily. "We can definitely be friends."

I smiles at him. "Great. Well then, friend," I say playfully, hoping it's covering up my embarrassment. Clark smiles more, showing me he knows what I'm doing but thankfully doesn't appear like he's going to call me out on it, which helps me relax a bit. I didn't continue my sentence, though. I really didn't know what else to say. I hate Lois. Why did I think this was a good idea?

Clark must have picked up that I was at a loss of words, for he quickly asks, "So, did the article get published? About you, I mean. I usually read Lois's articles but I don't remember seeing one about you. Uh, sorry."

I wave my hand around dismissively. "It's fine. My work is kind of complex, and not in the sense that little minds wouldn't be able to understand, with proper knowledge of the basics it's easy to pick up on, but it's kind of hard for an average person with no idea about the workings of the normal human mind to comprehend and I suppose your editor didn't think it would flow well in the news."

Clark looks genuinely apologetic for me. "I'm sorry."

I shrug. "It's fine. Jokes on you guys, I won that award." Clark barks out a surprised laugh that I couldn't help but also join in on. I take a sip of my drink, trying not to make my interest in Clark too apparent.

"I guess we'll just have slap our wrists at our next meeting for the slip up," Clark laughs, showing off two rows of pure white teeth, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I suppose I wasn't expecting that."

I'm not sure what I said that was so funny, but I'm glad I said it. I like Clark's laugh. It's nice. Pure, in a way.

We spent the better part of the next two hours just sitting there and talking about anything and everything. Clark told me a bit about himself. Mostly he talked about Smallville. He told me about how he was raised there with his adoptive parents and about his two best friends throughout his schooling and about the passing of his father. In that, we were able to connect.

"I lost my parents when I was six years old," I tell him. Clark's blue eyes lock onto me and appear genuinely sad for me.

Instead of apologizing, which would do nothing for me, apologies wouldn't bring them back, he just asked, "How?"

"Car accident," I say, then shrug. "I was so young, I don't remember much about that day. All I remember was waking up on the side of the road. I had been thrown from the car."

Clark's eyes widen. "You were in the car at the time?"

I nod. "I don't remember my life at all before the accident, I don't remember my parents, but I do remember their funeral. As morbid as that is. But I'm lucky, in a way. I don't remember them at all, and while I wish I could have come to know them, I'm also a little lucky that I don't really feel that loss like my older brother and sister do."

Clark takes a moment to look around the coffee house, watching a few other customers come in and sit down next to the door. He brings his eyes back over to me and asks, "How old are your siblings?"

"My brother was twelve at the time and my sister was fourteen," I run my fingers through my hair. "Sorry, that was a little heavy."

Clark shakes his head. "No, I brought it up first. But, may I ask how old you are now?"

"Mr. Kent, don't you know how rude it is to ask a lady her age?" I joke.

Clark must not have realized this at first because he looks mildly alarmed, before I wink at him and he relaxes a bit again. "Jeez, you scared me there for a second. I thought I insulted you."

I wave his worry away. "I'm just messing with you. To answer your question, I'm just about to turn twenty-four."

"Really?" He sounds impressed. "And you already won an award in the psychology field?"

I laugh. "Yeah. I skipped a bunch of grades in school and went to college young and graduated that early too. You could call me a mild protégé. At least, that's what my professors called me."

Clark raises an eyebrow. "You don't think so?"

I shrug my shoulders, playing with my now empty coffee cup for a moment before forcing myself to leave it alone and look back up at Clark. "Not especially. I'm not very socially..." I wave my hand around, trying to find the words. "I'm not good at interacting with people and spent all of my free time studying and learning about all kids of things and I guess I just picked things up quickly enough that it fooled people into thinking that I was overly intelligent when in reality I was just awfully bad at interacting with people."

Clark tilts his head to the side. "I don't know about that. You don't strike me as the type of person incapable of interacting with others, you've been doing just fine with me."

"You're different," I say immediately, without thinking and flush deeply in embarrassment. How does my foot always find it's way to my mouth so easily? "And at the same time, you're not."

Clark smiles a bit. "I think you're just fine."

I look away, smiling a bit. "Thank you."

We manage to talk for about ten more minutes before there was a beeping noise. It pulled Clark's attention away from our conversation to his phone after a polite, "Excuse me," before turning away. I pull out my phone to give him a bit more privacy and play around on the apps while he speaks in low, quiet tones before finally hanging up and smiling apologetically.

"I've got to head out now," Clark says, standing up quickly. "I'm really sorry about this."

I stand up too. "No, you're fine. Thanks for spending some time with me. It's nice to start meeting some friendly people around here. Thanks for everything."

Clark shakes his head. "No problem, here," he pauses a moment to write down his number on a napkin. "If you ever need anything or just want to hang out, give me a call." He flashes me another charming smile before flying out of the coffee shop like his ass was on fire. His business must have been real important. After a moment of hesitation, I pick up the napkin, put the number in my phone before crumpling it up and throwing it away.

I step out of the building and look around, lost. I take a moment to pull my phone back out and bring up google maps and put in my address. As soon as I turn to start heading toward my home, I heard a whooshing sound above me. I look up just in time to see a red and blue blur flying overhead and disappearing into the clouds.

* * *

Clark became a great new friend. We met up again a few days later and he showed me around Metropolis. We went to a museum and I read every plaque in the building, even sprouting bits of my own knowledge on subjects to Clark. Thankfully, he let me ramble on and on without complaint and even took me out again a few days later to the aquarium. There I sprouted more of my knowledge about the fish. Still he did not complain.

He's super adorable.

We went out to dinner the other night and had Lois come along with us. It was fun to see Lois again and she was obvious in her excitement over Clark and I bonding, believing it was entirely her power that brought us together. While I figure Clark's and my own genuine interest in one another probably had a good bit to do with it, I was still thankful to her for giving me a new friend. Even if Clark and I never became more than that, it was still nice of Lois to bring us together at least as friends. So, I'll let her have her moment.

Clark seems to have been thinking the same thing. He looks over at me and smiles softly, giving me a little shrug. About half way through the dinner, Lois came up with an amazing idea that we should start having a game night. As soon as she suggested it, her entire face lit up, she was banging her hand on the table, pulling the attention of the people sitting around us.

"Perfect!" Lois laughs. "I've been wanting to do something for a while! Oh, we can invite Trevor from work too - oh," she pauses, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "He's kind of a tool." She squints up at the ceiling for a moment. "Hm... maybe... oh! Maybe we can invite Jimmy! Clark, you and Jimmy are friends, right?"

Clark nods. "I like him. And remember, he wants to be called James now."

Lois waves her hands around dismissively. "Yeah, sure, whatever. So what do you think? Good idea, right? I mean, it'll be fun." She smiles brightly at Clark.

He nods. "Sure, sounds like a good idea, but we won't have James for much longer. He's moving, remember?"

Lois's shoulders droop a bit. "Oh, you're right." She squints at the light over their table for a moment, in thought, before she looks back over at Clark. "He's going to National City, right? I remember Lucy saying something about that before. Man, she was upset." Lois lets out a small chuckle and shakes her head slowly.

"Wait, who's Lucy?" I ask.

"Lois's sister," Clark tells me.

"Ah," I say, nodding, then looking over at Lois. "And why is she upset about that?"

Lois waves her hand around. "My sister is a little... abrasive or... maybe presumptuous. She thinks that Jimmy cares more about Superman than her and just couldn't take it any more. She dumped him before he could dump her. But it's obvious that she still loves him. She won't stop talking about him. Although my dad couldn't be happier about him no longer being in the picture." She shakes her head again.

"General Lane doesn't think anyone is good enough for his daughters," Clark says, giving Lois a knowing look. Lois purses her lips.

"True," she admits, "but unlike me. Lucy is still naïve enough to bring her boyfriends around dad. I tell him as little about my life as humanly possible and if he figures anything out, I feign shock."

I laugh. "That's horrible, Lois. You should just be nicer to both your father and your sister."

Lois rolls her eyes. "I'm nice. I swear. I just don't like people digging around in my business like that. No matter how many times I tell Lucy not to tell dad about her boyfriends, she does, and then complains to me about how dad was being so unfair about what he says in regards to her boyfriends. And well, dad doesn't believe Lucy nor myself are capable of judging if someone is good enough for us or not." Her right elbow is propped up on the table and she rests her chin on her fist. "It drives me crazy."

I lean back in my chair, throwing my head back and quickly pulling my long black hair up into a high ponytail before leaning forward again. "I'm sorry about that, Lois. I kind of know what that's like. Except with my older sister. She's certain nothing short of the moon and stars is good enough for me. No one I date, or talk to, is ultimately good enough. You'd think I was some kind of rare, one-of-a-kind china doll."

Lois and I take a moment to look at each other and feel that similarity between us before looking toward the last member of our little group. Clark raises a dark eyebrow, looking sheepish. "My mom always told me to go with my gut. I knew what - and who - would ultimately be best for me." His smiles is charming but also sheepish.

"Boo," Lois and I say at once, shaking our heads and giving him the thumbs down. Clark rubs the back of his head.

"Sorry," he says.

I giggle, waving his apology away, even if it was playful. "We are just playing with you."

"I wasn't," Lois says teasingly. Then she reaches out and pats Clark's arm, to show she was kidding, in case he couldn't already tell. We take a few minutes to eat our food in silence. Naturally, it's Lois who breaks the silence around us. "So, how are the two of you? Becoming friends?" The way she said friends, gave me the obvious impression that 'friend' wasn't the word she was trying to use.

"Lois," Clark sighs. As he goes into the explanation about how we were just friends but that we were hanging out and to not read into something that wasn't there - then quickly apologized to me, hoping that his words didn't offend me, and they didn't - before answering all of Lois's questions with the truth. Strangely, though, he wasn't offering up any other information other than what she asked about.

While that was happening, I had to pull out my little mirror from in my purse to look at the contact in my right eye. It was irritating me and sliding around on my eye. It wasn't off center, thankfully enough, but it was bothering me. The last thing I'd want to do is show Lois and Clark my strange eye. It's bad enough that I'm not all that good with people. If they saw my deformity, they might think I was a monster.

They wouldn't be the first ones to think so.


	2. Time Out

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait! I haven't been feeling great but knew I wanted to keep going. I see there is some interest in this story. Thank you so much! I love hearing what you guys have to say! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,953**

"So, Samantha, what prompted you move to Metropolis?" Clark asks.

I glance up at him in confusion for a moment before slipping my mirror back into my purse and straightening up. "Oh? You mean, why did I move in the first place?"

Clark shrugs. "Sure. Why did you move and why here of all places?" He gives a little laugh. "I guess that was a two pronged question that I somehow morphed into one question." Lois rolls her eyes, but says nothing, as she turns to look at me, waiting for me to respond.

I shrug my shoulders. "It's nothing special really. I have family that lives close by. And there was just... a lot of crazy stuff going on back home that I had to get away from. For my sake, I think."

I said the wrong word, I knew it the moment they left my lips because Lois's eyes lit up and she leaned in close. "Crazy stuff? Like what? Nothing as crazy as our residential super goodies and badies, right?"

I wave my hand around. "Oh no, nothing like Superman or any of the bad guys that Metropolis sees, but some personal issues between me and a guy I knew. Or, thought I knew."

Lois raises an eyebrow, her interest not fading just yet. She nods slowly, eyes wide. "Uh huh. I'm sensing a story from this."

Clark looks between the two of us, eyebrows pulled together. "Um, Lois? I don't think we should stiff arm her into tell us. It was just honest curiosity, not the start of an interrogation."

Lois glances over at him, then to me. "You know you don't have to tell us, right?"

"Well... I'm-" I start but she cuts me off.

"Good, then you want to tell me right? Otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up," Lois says wisely. "You would have just said it was issues back home, or for no reason entirely, but you didn't. So spill, I know you want to." She smirks. "I can read you like an open book."

I make a wide-eyed face at that. "Maybe you should have my job."

She winks at me. "Maybe I should, but I like my job better." She laughs. "Now, no more dancing around my question. Spill."

I run my fingers through my dark hair, working out some of the tangles out before dropping my hands down onto my lap. "Um, I had a boyfriend right before I moved down here. He was wonderful. We got along great and had lots of fun together. Everything was fine and after a year and a half of dating, we moved in together."

Lois wiggles her eyebrows. "Scandalous!"

Heat rushes to my face and my eyes, against my will, flicker over to Clark, to see him interested as well. Is it a stupid time to notice that he has mile-long dark lashes that surround icy blue eyes. But he also looks like he's ready to tell Lois to back off if I asked him too. Which is super sweet of him. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter in my eyes.

"Not so," I say, pulling my eyes back over to Lois. "I thought we were in love."

Lois shifts slightly. "And you weren't?"

I shrug. "Everything was fine for a while. I mean, we were inseparable, even though we moved in together. It was really nice. Until I began to realize that I was neglecting my friends and family. Not that he was keeping me away from them, it was just my sister didn't like him and wanted nothing to do with him and my brother was the kind of guy that would just kind of keep nodding at gatherings until it was over. He didn't interact with people well, almost as well as me," I laugh, then frown when Lois raises her eyebrow, not understanding the humor.

"Never mind," I mumbled. "So, I put a bit of space between myself and him, which he said he was fine with, and spent time with friends and family. I thought that everything was okay. I didn't know to suspect anything was weird." I shake my head, running my hand through my hair.

Lois shifts a bit closer. "But something weird was happening?"

I nod, putting my elbow on the table and resting my cheek against it. "I started noticing something I didn't notice before." I glance over at Clark. "He was everywhere I went. Not as in it felt like he was everywhere, he literally was. I notice him one time, and then another, and then another until every time I left the house, whether I told him specifically where I was going or not, I would see him. Outside of friend's house, in the bar we were hanging out in, things like that."

Lois shakes her head. "Seriously?"

"That is strange," Clark admits. "But are you sure it was like that?"

I nod. "Yeah. At first I thought it was because he was insecure and just wanted to make sure I was where I said I was and not doing something shady or cheating on him or anything like that, but then I began to notice something even more weird."

"Weirder than your boyfriend following you everywhere?" Lois says incredulously, shaking her head.

I lean in closer, lowering my voice. Clark and Lois do the same, making me feel like on of their contacts on a drug cartel or something top secret like that. It made me smile a bit, but the smile didn't last long, for there was a bit a bit in my story.

"I get up at night sometimes, you know, like everyone else in the world," I say, looking between the two. "I would get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water and when I leave bed, he'd be asleep, but as soon as I left the room he would be awake. He would standing outside the bathroom or on the other side of the fridge door to scare the hell out of me when I close it. Things like that."

Lois shivers, as if she got a cold chill and Clark frown at that.

"Freaky," Clark mutters. Lois nods.

I shrug. "Yeah, and while that could be explained away too, I suppose."

"No, it can't," Lois mutters.

"Sometimes..." I shiver, running my hands up and down my arms. "Sometimes I would awaken from a dead sleep..."

"Oh no," Lois says, eyes wide. "Don't say it."

I glance over at her. "I didn't know what woke me up at first."

"Oh, please don't."

"And then I would feel his eyes on me. He would be watching me while I slept," I tell her, and then look over at Clark to see his eyes narrowed, staring down at our forgotten food, but not really looking at it.

"Oh, shit you did!" Lois says, rather loudly, leaning back in her seat. People glance over at her, but Lois has the stunning ability to ignore everything she doesn't care to see. Unlike me, everything sticks to me forever. Lois runs her hands through her hair before leaning forward again. "So he was full on stalking you? Even in your own house? That's crazy! No wonder you high-tailed it out of there."

She shakes her head, taking a sip of her wine.

"Yeah," I twirl a strand of my hair around my finger, "so I changed my number, made all my media cites private and closed my email accounts then, without telling anyone other than my family, I moved to a new town. Gotham, originally since I had family that lived there, but I couldn't find an apartment there that I could afford, and so the next closest place was here. I remembered that Lois lived here so I called her up and we reconnected. And that is my crazy story."

Lois shakes her head, staring at me. "That is absolutely crazy. What a story."

Clark leans back in his chair, bringing his fingers up to his lips to rub the pads of his fingers across those tantalizing lips of his. He seems deep in thought. He's staring at the other side of the room with unseeing eyes.

"Damn," Lois says, taking a swig of her wine, drowning the rest of the glass before setting it down. "Hey, you'll let me know if that creep comes around, right? Crazy people like that don't just give up."

I stare at her, horrified. I never thought for a moment that craziness wasn't over.

Clark zoned back in just in time to hear Lois and see my reaction. He turns his light blue eyes over to Lois and widens them. "Lois? Seriously?"

Lois holds up her hands. "I'm sorry!" She says, sounding anything but that. "I just thought that she should be aware of the situation. Wackos like the one she described don't just give up. Oh! Sammy," she turns toward me, smiling brightly. "I'll teach you some moves. Give that creep what's coming to him, if he gets any wrong ideas." She winks at me,

I shake my head. "No way. I'll leave the fighting to the Justice League, thanks."

Lois rolls her eyes. "Yeah, they're great and all, but they can't do everything. You have to learn how to defend yourself too! Just because they are actual superheros doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to defend yourself! There is a lot of creeps out there that won't wait for the Justice League to come flying in to save the day before they do something really dangerous." She crosses her arms over her chest.

Clark stares at her for a moment before looking back over at me and nodding. "She's not wrong, Samantha. You should always be able to protect yourself, but never go looking for trouble," Clark says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Clark's eyes scan the room again, still giving me that weird feeling like I'm being watched. Another chill crawls down my spine.

Clark doesn't seem to notice. "Knowing how to defend yourself doesn't mean going out and look for trouble to solve. Like Lois does," Clark says, looking over at the brunette next to him. She shrugs nonchalantly, like her acts of vigilante heroism wasn't anything to get all upset about. Clark rolls those pretty blue eyes. "My point is, when trouble finds you, it's best to be able to protect yourself and get out of the situation, but you shouldn't go out of your way to get wrapped up in trouble and then let it escalate into something uncontrollable. That's reckless."

Lois tuts, cracking her neck a bit before rolling her shoulders back. "Smallville may have a point, so long as you know how to handle yourself." She shrugs.

Clark sighs. "That's not what I'm saying, Lois. You worry me, sometimes."

Lois grins at him. "I'm a reporter! We are suppose to do what it takes to get the story, Smallville! Live a little!" She laughs, slapping Clark's shoulder and grinning even broader when he sighs again.

"My point is," Clark says, bringing his pretty blue back over to me, "learn to defend yourself, but don't go looking for trouble."

"Yeah, don't pull a Batman!" Lois laughs.

Clark blanches at that and I glance over at her. "What do you mean by that?"

Lois shrugs her shoulders. "No reason. It's kind of funny, is all. You've got Superman who flies, shoots heat vision, is super strong, stuff like that. Wonder Woman is strong and can fly. The Flash is strong-ish, and can run really fast. The Martian Manhunter can change shape, fly and comes from Mars! Green Lantern can fly and use the green ring of power to do all kinds of crazy shit. Hawkgirl has wings and an electrified mace. And then there's Batman!" Lois laughs.

I hadn't thought about it like that. "Sure, Batman doesn't have super powers like the others do, but I'm sure he's just as much a hero as the rest of them. I mean, he protected Gotham easy enough before the League was formed." Clark looks uncomfortable with this line of discussion. I look from him to Lois. "Um, maybe we shouldn't talk about this..."

Lois waves her hand around dismissively. "Don't worry about Smallville, Sam, he usually gets that constipated look on his face whenever I talk about the Justice League, which is surprising. He's cool talking about Superman, but not any of the others."

"I don't adversely want to talk about anyone," Clark says simply, staring at Lois.

"I'm not talking adversely about anyone!" Lois says simply, waving her hand around.

"Was I just dreaming the last three minutes my life?" Clark asks coyly, staring at her not amused.

I look between them, wondering if they were actually fighting or if this was just part of their banter, that I'm coming to learn is forged from years of knowing each other. Judging by the fact that neither have gotten particularly nasty or even raised their voices really, I've naturally fallen into the habit of reading their body language. Both are relaxed with only tenseness in their shoulders. They were still slightly tilted toward each other, showing that they weren't angry with one another, which means that they aren't angry with each other.

This is just somewhat friendly banter.

Now that I know that this isn't going to break out into a fist fight - which I highly doubt already, since Clark strikes me as the type of person who would more likely bite off his own tongue before striking someone who didn't deserve it, like their shared fiery friend Lois - I can relax again without worry.

After we finished up with dinner, we take a roundabout way to get both Lois and me walked home. Lois offered to just pay for a taxi, but then decided it was that or not pay rent this month and thought that the walk would help prepare her for the one she'll have to do tomorrow to get to work. When I asked her why she was practically broke, she shook her head and muttered something about never listening to someone called Lisa again about a good sushi place. I wonder what that was about but decided that it wasn't something that she would want to talk about.

We got Lois home first, which was surprisingly closer to me than I thought, just a few blocks over. After that, Clark walked me to my apartment, easily able to find it when I give him my address.

We walk in silence for the most part. I find interest in looking around at everything around us other than him. After spilling my creepy story about my ex, I feel a lot closer to Lois and Clark, and even like them both a hell of a lot more, but it feels strange. It's almost like I admitted to this handsome man that I'm some sort of weirdo magnet. The story isn't really embarrassing. I don't think it's really my fault that he was creepy, I was just unlucky. But it's still strange.

In some ways, I hope that he realized his mistake and stopped being like that for the next person, but I don't know. And I honestly don't want to know. I'm naïve, I'll admit it, but I did eventually realize that he was creepy, but that was all he was. Creepy. He didn't hurt me in any way. He just freaked me out a bit, that's all.

Still, it felt nice walking next to Clark. Not only was he genuinely such a nice guy, but he had an air about him. He was tall, a lot taller than me, and he was obviously strong, I could tell by his toned forearms beneath his rolled up dress shirt sleeves. Even though he was a tall man, and obviously strong, there was something delicate about him.

No.

He didn't give me the feeling of being dangerous. Not the air, not the mannerisms, nothing. But there was a better word for it. There was something he made me feel while I was around him.

He made me feel safe. Not because I may or may not have a fledgling crush on him. But he is a very protective force. He went out of his way to walk both Lois and myself home, even though it's getting late and he no doubt has work in the morning as well. He didn't even needed to be asked if we wanted him to walk us home, it came to him naturally.

Now that I think about it, he did mention something about his father passing away when he was a teenager and being raised by his mother. It must have taught him how to properly treat a woman. With someone like Lois as a best friend, I find it hard to believe that those habits were better refined after he moved here to Metropolis.

The more I learn about him, the more I like Clark Kent.

"Thank you for walking me home, Clark," I say, finally speaking to him for the first time since we left Lois's apartment. I step up a few of the stairs before turning around to look at him. Up three steps, I'm almost eye level with him. I stuff my hands into my coat pockets.

Clark smiles. "It's okay. I had a good time with you and Lois tonight."

I nod. "Me too." I smile at him. "Goodnight."

"You too," he says easily. I turn to walk up the stairs but he reaches out and catches my arm before I can fully turn away. When I look back at him, Clark's eyes, dark blue in the dim light are narrowed. "Just because you moved away doesn't mean you shouldn't stop being careful. If you need anything... or feel like something bad is going to happen, just call me, alright? No matter what, I'll come to make sure you're alright. Don't worry about overreacting. It's better to be safe than sorry, okay?"

I nod slowly, not sure what to say to that other than a soft, "Okay..."

Clark's intense look relaxes and he smiles. "Good. Have a good night. I'll text you sometime tomorrow. Maybe we can hang out again."

"Sure," I say and he pulls his hand back. His grip on my arm was light and if I wanted to pull away I could. It was almost like he was barely touching me. He wasn't trapping me in anything, even a grip. I smile at that. "Thank you, Clark. I appreciate it."

Clark nods, stuffing his hands into his pockets too and turns down the street to head on home to his own apartment. I watch him until half way down the street her turns to the right and disappears in the darkness. I turn away and head inside.

* * *

I rub the towel through my hair as I walk into my bedroom. I fall onto my bed and grab my phone, to see that my sister had called. I hit redial and stare out my window, seeing nothing but darkness and a streetlight down below. I listen to the tone dial for a couple of seconds and then the soft hum of it ringing on my sister's side before she finally answers.

"I called you a half hour ago, Sam," Bailey says as soon as she answers.

I roll my eyes. "I have a life outside of you, my lovely sister. But for your information, if you must know, I was showering a half hour ago."

Bailey huffs, amused. "Very well. Sorry, Sam. You know me. I'm practically insane. I got it. It's just... ever since what happened with Justin, I've been going crazy with worry. I wished that freak didn't make you have to move."

I sigh, running my fingers through my wet hair, tugging at some of the knots, almost yanking a chunk of hair out of my head. I pull my fingers out and decide to wait until it dries before trying to comb through that mess. "Bailey, he didn't force me to move. I moved on my own."

"Only because you didn't feel safe here anymore. How dare he come in from who-knows-where and make you feel unsafe and have to leave your own hometown? God, I hate that guy," Bailey growls.

I roll onto my back and start at my ceiling. "He was creepy, yes, but he wasn't bad. Not really. I just... didn't feel like stay there was what was best for me. Besides, I've been looking for a way to spice up my life for a long time now. Just getting out of a strange relationship is a good reason to finally find that kick I've been looking for."

Bailey groans. "Don't do that, Samantha."

My eyebrows pull together. "Do what?"

"Defend that weirdo. He was a freak and made you run away from home. Don't sugar coat it. Don't make it seem like destiny. Or fate. Or whatever. You dated, he freaked you out enough to make you feel unsafe in your hometown and you had to leave, simple as that. Police are bullshit. I can't believe that they couldn't do anything about that," Bailey grumbles.

I close my eyes. "He didn't do anything wrong. He committed no crimes. What would they arrest him for?"

Bailey sighs. "I don't know, but that freaky shit should be illegal."

"Well it's not," I tell her. "It's well within the lines of the law. No matter how freaky. Even though I was a bit scared, I didn't coherantly feel a threat on my life and I didn't know how to convey anything other than that to a judge or the police. What's done is done. He hasn't tried to contact me since."

"Only because you've dropped off the face of the planet," Bailey says quickly. "Trust me. Freaks like that don't just give up. Thankfully for him he's smart enough to stay the hell away from me and Shawn. I'll shoot him."

"Don't say that," I say, rubbing my eyes.

"I will, though," Bailey mutters.

"Stop, will you? Let's talk about something else. Please?"

Bailey sighs. "Yeah, okay, sure. What's new with you? How's Gotham? Our cousin treating you well?"

I open my eyes. "Oops."

"What?" Bailey asks, suddenly alarmed. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just... we haven't talked in a few days I forgot to mention, I'm not living in Gotham. I didn't want to impose on B-"

"You're not in Gotham?" Bailey screeches. I have to pull the phone away from my ear sharply to stop myself from going deaf in that one side. After a moment I silence I tentatively bring it back.

"No," I say slowly. "I'm in Metropolis. It's a little bit closer and it's more my lifestyle and not to mention price range. I have a friend who lives here and we were able to reconnect. I've already made another friend here. It's all good."

Bailey sighs, probably trying to figure out what her emotions are. No doubt she's still angry, annoyed and worried about the situation with Justin. Angry and scared about how I had to move away because of that situation. Annoyed about not being where I said I was originally going to be. And probably unsure of how to think about me already making new friends. No doubt happy for me, but she's always been overprotective of me. Now that she's miles and miles away from me, she can no longer check up on me and the people I associate with.

"Who are your new friends?" She asks delicately, probably deciding that's the best way to broach the topic.

"Ever read the Daily Planet here in Metropolis?"

"You're friends with reporters?" Bailey asks, incredulously. "Is that smart?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Is it dumb?"

Bailey sighs. "Haven't you heard the saying about reporters? They'll sell their first born child for a story! They're blood thirsty! They're-" a sudden pause, then, "shit! You aren't talking about Lois Lane, are you?"

My eyes widen in surprise and I sit up. "Wow, Bailey, how did you know?"

Bailey lets out a wail. "Because, Samantha! I remembered that you were suppose to be in the Daily Planet but those idiots realized that their readers weren't smart enough to grasp the most basic understanding of their own brains and behavior! Whatever. I remember that Lois Lane was the one that came to interview you. She was a little weird."

"Yes," I admit. "But not creepy." I let out a little laugh. "But she means no harm. In fact, if anything, I really like her. She welcomed me with open arms, helped me find an apartment I could afford. Plus she helped me meet a friend of hers from work that I really like. He really is a nice guy."

"Your new friend is a guy?" Bailey asks wearily.

"Yes, Bailey, relax!" I laugh, laying back down on my back. "I'm not trying to jump his bones! Nor is it the other way around!" I flinch at my own words and sigh. "Shit."

"What?" Bailey asks.

"Nothing," I say quickly. "Anyway, my point is, we're just friends. Nothing to worry about. This isn't going to be like with Justin. I'm a lot more aware of myself and those around me. This place is a good place to start over. I like it here. Can't you be happy for me?"

Bailey is quiet for a full minute before sighing loudly. I smile, practically able to see her shoulders slump in defeat despite the distance between us. I force myself not to let out a little laugh, lest she hear it and decide to come all the way out here, pack up my life and bring me back home, regardless of all that is going on back there. She'll lock me up in her basement and keep me there is she could.

"Fine," Bailey finally concedes. "I'll accept that you are wiser now, but that doesn't mean I think that the danger has passed. You attract weirdos, Sammy, you always have. But I will leave you with that. Just... be careful, okay? I'm worried about you."

"I know," I smile, more softly. "I know you worry about me, and I appreciate it. I really do. Just... maybe in moderate, _smaller_ portions. But I know I can't change you, so I will just grit my teeth and bare it. I love you, Bailey. Goodnight."

"I love you too, Sammy. Please be careful," she says slowly. "Goodnight."

After she hung up the phone, I sit up and lay my cell over on my bedside table. I walk around my apartment, turning off all of lights and other miscellaneous appliances that I don't need on, before falling back into my bed and slipping under the covers. Today has been a long day. A fun one, do doubt about that. But a long one.

I've tried hard not to think about Justin since I moved down here. And just talking about it earlier made me think about it more than I would have liked. But, instead of being afraid or nervous like I had been every other time I've thought about him since I finally left him, I feel a little bit better. Safer maybe. Talking about it with Lois and Clark - even though a part of me thought that they would assume I was overreacting or somehow be able to rationalize it whereas I couldn't - they believed me and even offered to help me get through it.

Lois was weird, without a doubt. She's abrasive and somewhat uncouth, but she's also strong and encouraging and overall wonderful. It's no wonder when we first met a little over a year and a half ago that we hit it off so well. I've had friends before. I may be freaky, but I've always had people around me that I was friends with but there was something about Lois. She was just so blindingly easy to get along with.

And Clark... well, I'm finding it hard to even consider not liking him. Something tells me going anywhere near that will be impossible for me. Which might be a good thing.

Clark and Lois feel like a great start for me. They make me feel like I belong. Maybe this was one of the best decisions I could have made. I'm starting to think so.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. CrazyPhenom: Haha, well, thank you for giving this story a try. I actually think Wonder Woman and Batman are super cute together. I'm excited to get my own stab at it. ^/^_

 _2\. Guest: Thank you! I picture Clark a lot the same way! He's super beautiful. I love him. :D_

 _3\. angel879: Thank you!_

 _4\. Gostelow: Thank you very much!_


	3. The Warning

**Author's Note: Hey there! I'm so sorry for the wait, everyone! So there is still some interest in the story, so here is the next chapter! I'm glad that y'all like the story so far! I just love reading what y'all got to say! Let me now what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,564**

There is a knock at the door.

I pause the video on the television in front of me and jump up from the couch to head to my front door. I rise up onto my tip toes to look through the peep hole. I smile and drop down flat on my feet again. I reach forward, about to open the door when I remember my eye. I quickly look around, suddenly lost within my own apartment.

"Oh, um, be right there!" I yell before spinning around and rushing, as quietly as I can, to my bathroom. I grab my contact and quickly slip it into my eye, blink a few times to make sure it's settled into place before rubbing on deodorant and rushing back to the door and swinging it wide open.

"Clark!" I say, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"I was out running errands when I ran into Lois," Clark says and holds up a bag of take-out. "She told me you haven't left your apartment in a week and needed food. She wanted to come but a big lead on a story just popped up and asked me to help out. Is that okay?"

I nod and step aside, letting him in. "It is. Thank you," I say, trying to calm the large grin on my face. Clark walks past me and into my apartment and it's only then that I'm self conscious of the way I look. Thankfully, I showered earlier this morning, but I was in shorts and a large t-shirt, practically falling off one of my shoulders. My hair is pulled up into a messy bun on the top of my head. I slide the sleeve of my shirt up, hoping that he didn't notice and think I was trying to be something that I'm not. I tug at the bottom of my shorts, like that will magically make them a bit longer, before following him into my little kitchen.

No matter how engrossed into my research I'm in, had I known Clark was the one coming instead of Lois, I definitely would have stopped what I was going to change into clothes that didn't make me look like... well, this. I look like I rolled out of bed ten minutes ago. Probably smelled like it too. But it's too late for that now, I just have to focus on eating, because I'm starved. If my growling stomach is anything to go by.

Clark turns to look at me when I walk into the room after him. We pull out our food and transfer them onto plates before walking into my living room and sitting down on my couch. I put my laptop onto the coffee table in front of me before settling into the couch and stuffing a fry into my mouth and hum.

"Oh man," I moan. "I don't think I've eaten in days. I need to stop doing that." I eat another one.

Clark nods, eating one of his own fries. "I agree. What's up? What are you doing that has you stopping from eating? What's so important?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

I shrug my shoulders. "It's not something that is overly important to anything really, other than me. It's part of my research. Sometimes I just get so..." I wave my hand around, not sure what the proper word is. "I just get obsessed, I guess, and forget to really take care of myself." I shrug my shoulders again. "I don't know. I'm just glad that you're here."

Clark shakes his head. "You get so engrossed in your work that you forget to feed yourself?" His eyes are wide.

I wave my hand around. "Don't make this bigger than it is. Just a day or two or three without food and I'll remember. It's just this time around I forgot I hadn't gone shopping and was pretty weak." I grin at his slightly alarmed look.

"What are you studying?" Clark asks, probably trying to contain his slight horror.

I hesitate, wondering if he was going to think about it. After looking into his honest blue eyes for a moment, I cave, "I'm studying footage of the Justice League."

Clark's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. "Oh?" he says slowly, "And what exactly are you studying about them?"

"Behavior, mannerisms, things like that," I tell him, pushing my laptop away from the edge of the coffee table with my foot before tucking it under me. "It's for my thesis. I've been studying them for years and have written more then a five or six in-depth papers on each of them. I just find it so fascinating that people who were born, literally on different planets, could have so many mannerisms and thought processes like humans! It's just too interesting! I mean, how is that even possible? Is it all instinctual? Have they been here long enough to pick up our social norms?" I let out a long-winded sigh, shaking my head. "I just... I have so many questions and so many things I just want to know." I stare at the wall above the television, lost in my thoughts for a moment before I remember that Clark was still sitting next to me. I look back over at him sheepishly. "Me and everyone else in the world, am I right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Clark says kindly. "I have some questions myself. Isn't it fascinating? All those different worlds out there? How they all differ from one another?"

"Yes!" I grab one of Clark's wrists, giving it a shake. "It's just - and believe me, I'm sure they are all wonderful people, because, I mean, they are risking their lives trying to protect us - but it's just so interesting to me. What were their worlds like? How come they can all speak our language? How long did it take for them to learn our social norms? Is their reaction to things natural to themselves, or is it how they believe they should act because anything otherwise would be slightly alarming to regular humans?"

Clark lets out a little laugh. "I'm sure there is a bit of culture shock, for both sides. I'm not sure how they all adjusted but it's an interesting thought. I believe that we all have some things to learn about one another."

"Yes!" I laugh, feeling relieved. "People are anxious to know about the Justice League but when it comes to actually _knowing_ them, no one cares to look beyond just being the first to reveal their identity. It's just tiring to think about. What matters is how we can thank them for helping us and better understand them as people rather than just our saviors. I mean, protecting us is a big part of where gratitude should come from, but... they are still people. I mean..." I sigh, shaking my head. "I don't know if I'm saying this right."

"No," Clark shakes his head, "I think I understand."

My shoulders droop in relief. "Really? Oh thank goodness, I was worried you would think I was insane," I let out a little laugh before frowning at my own words. Did that make me sound even more insane than I thought?

Clark smiles kindly, reaching out and patting my shoulder. "I get it. And no, Samantha, I don't think that you're insane. I like the way you see the world." He takes a moment to consider something before looking over at me again. "I think you're fine the way you are, no need to worry about whether I think you're strange or not, trust me, my life is filled with strange and unusual, there is very little you can say or do that would make me think that you were either, besides, even if you were, isn't everyone a little strange and unusual?"

I laugh, bumping his shoulder with mine. "You sound like someone on tumblr."

Clark's eyebrows pull together in mock insult. "I've seen what happens on that website, and no, okay?"

"Okay, okay," I say, waving my hands around dismissively. "Sorry, anyway, thank you for your nice words. I'm glad that I won't at least freak you out with my weirdness." I look around the room for a moment before shaking my head.

* * *

"Thanks for getting me out of my apartment," I say, looking up at Clark. "I really appreciate it."

Clark shakes his head, rolling his cleaves up to his elbows a bit, showing off toned forearms that I have to look away from before I'm caught oogling at them. "It's no problem," Clark says, easily. "It's been, what? Almost a week since we last spoke at your apartment. Lois told me yesterday that you still hadn't left yet."

"I'm like a hermit," I admit. "Once I'm engrossed in something, the rest of the world falls away."

"And that's fine," Clark says, "in shorter portions. It's not good to be locked away so much and for so long."

I nod slowly, running my fingers along the bottom of my sundress, admiring the summer heat beating down on us. It's such a beautiful day out, I'm glad that Clark chose today to get me out of my apartment. It feels like forever since I last wore a dress, I keep scrunching it up in my fists before smoothing it out and continuing the process. A nervous tic I didn't know I had, maybe?

"At least I ate this time," I offer, pointing at him.

Clark laughs. "Well, we can be thankful for that."

"Hey, Clark, thanks for coming to pick me up," I say, glancing up at him again. "I got the address from Lois, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find it, and I'd feel bad if I showed up late again and even had to make her backtrack to my apartment just to head back past hers to get to this place."

"It's fine. I don't mind," Clark says, simply, and I believe him. "I've been here before, it's a little bit of a hole-in-the-wall, if you don't know how to get there it's easy to get lost."

"So what is this place, exactly?"

"It's... a bar, I suppose?" Clark says slowly. "Or maybe a pub is better. It's got a stage for like open mic nights and a bunch of televisions for football games and such during the seasons. It's got an open bar and it's pretty dark in there, but it's nice. The food is good and there's no smoking allowed."

"Hm," I say, eyebrow raised. "I guess a pub wasn't where I expected Clark Kent would spend his early evenings."

Clark lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah, it usually isn't, but it's not super big or loud. I don't know, I don't go often, but I like it."

"You said something about it not being a smoking area which is unusual. Most pubs I've been to allow it. Do you have something against smoking?" I guess it's not such an uncommon thing and I honestly couldn't imagine Clark being a smoker, still it was a strange to mention off the bat, it had to be important to him.

"I'm not against it," Clark says slowly. "I just... don't like the smell of it. I have a sensitive nose, I suppose. I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke. I don't mind if people smoke but, well, yeah, that's me."

I nod slowly. "Makes sense, I suppose. Oh! There's Lois!" I spot the dirty blond haired young woman standing out on a street corner, her back to us, waiting for the light to signal for her to go. "Lois!" I call out.

She twists her head around for a moment at the sound of her name before turning completely around to see me jumping up and down a bit waving and Clark walking right next to me. Her face breaks out in a smooth smile as she waits for us to get to her. "Hey, Sammy, Smallville. Good, we can walk the rest of the way together. Thanks for picking her up, Smallville, I was worried." She winks at me.

"You have a right to be," I admit. "If Clark wasn't here, I'd definitely be lost."

Lois grins back at me, slinging her purse further up her shoulder. "I bet. Smallville to save the day once again. He's like one of our residential heros, except for the super strength, speed, flying, heat vision and alien heritage. But yeah, other than that, real hero." She makes an overly dramatic sweeping gesture toward Clark's person. She grins up at him when he rolls his, pushing his thick framed black glasses further up his nose.

"Thanks for that," Clark says flatly.

Lois laughs, slapping his shoulder with her hand and I flinch. I'm not sure who that was suppose to hurt. It was loud and on Clark's arm, but he appeared unfazed whereas Lois gave her hand a little shake, subconsciously, as if she hit him harder than she anticipated. She glances over at him for a moment and when he said nothing about it, she smiles, pleased that she didn't hurt him before she walks across the street tot he other side, Clark and I following after her.

"You're going to like this place, Sam, it's neat. Smallville didn't like it at first but it grew on him, ain't that right, Smallville?" She grins, not looking back at him.

"Grew on me, just like you, Lois," Clark murmurs before glancing over to see me staring at him. He smiles secretively and winks. I can't help but smile back. God damn it, why is he so cute?

Clark was right, it was a little hole-in-the-wall. There was a small stairway leading from street level down into the building. It was dark down there but it was relatively spacious. Lois lead us over to table by the stage, but in perfect view of one of the many televisions hanging from the ceiling. There was all sorts of different channels on all the televisions, but the one that we have the best view of is of the news.

The place had a total of ten other people sitting around the other tables, one bartender on the opposite side of the room from the stage, and one waitress, who makes her way over to us as soon as we are seated. She hands us our menus, tells us the specials, and that her name was Amanda, before taking our drink order. Lois and I both get coke while Clark gets a water. Amanda smiles down at Clark before stepping away to get our drinks.

"She was giving you the once over," Lois says as soon as Amanda is out of hearing range.

Clark blinks in confusion, looking at her from over his menu, as if he was unsure if she was talking to him or not. "Who, me?"

Lois snorts. "Yeah, Smallville. She sure as hell wasn't looking at Sammy and I like we will a big hunk of man meat. If you were alone, she'd probably just jump you, right here, in the middle of the pub. I think she even licked her lips as she walked away."

I choke on air. Their relationship is so _weird._ I don't think I ever spoke to any of my friends like Lois does to Clark. Either that's just the type of person she is, or for some reason, poor Clark brings it out in her. Bless Clark, though, he blinks rapidly in confusion before twisting around his chair to look at the waitress who was, yes, looking right back at him. She smiles and waggles her fingers at him. He gives a little nod before turning back to Lois and frowning a bit.

"Thanks for that," he says blandly.

Lois laughs, throwing her head back. "You are so oblivious, Kent! She looked like she wanted to rip your shirt open right here and have her way with you! You wouldn't notice a girl interested in you unless she... well, ripped your shirt open and had her way with you!" Lois laughs with renewed vigor, not at all embarrassed like I was. I didn't even say anything and yet my face was on fire.

And oh my god, Clark's face was pink, even in the darkness. He brings a hand up to cover his lips and chin, looking down at his menu, trying to hide his embarrassment in the shadows cast by the dark room, but I saw it and it was the cutest thing in the world. He shakes his head slowly, blue eyes lowered to the menu but I doubt that he's really seeing it.

Lois is grinning at him when his eyes finally flicker up to her. "Please shut up," he mutters and she laughs again.

"Okay, I'm done," she says, waving her hand around before looking over at me and winks. I blink a few times in confusion. What was with that look? That wink? Was she trying to say something to me? Well, if she was, it was lost on me. I take a moment to clear my throat and try to bush down my momentary embarrassment. Clark lowers his hand as his focus is finally on the menu.

Once Amanda returns, I can tell that Clark is trying hard to not let what Lois's words influence his interaction with Amanda. He speaks evenly, and calmly, even smiling back at her when she flashes him a bright white toothed smile. Once she's got all our orders, she slips away.

"I can't believe you said that, Lois," I finally speak after a few minutes of silence.

Lois smiles at me. "Like it, right?"

I blush a bit again before pushing down the heat in my face. "You are just so..."

"Rude?" Clark guesses blandly, staring blankly at Lois when her grin moves to him. "Don't even try that with me," he says, voice flat.

"Try what?" Lois asks innocently.

Clark shakes his head. "Trying to act all cute and innocent like that. You aren't fooling anyone, Lois."

Lois feigns hurt. "But I _am_ cute and innocent, Smallville. I'm a little insulted that you didn't even notice, not going to lie. Maybe you need to up your prescription on those things." She waves toward his glasses.

Clark rolls his eyes. "Yeah, okay." Once their banter is over, we lapse into silence once more, just listening to the sounds of the pub around us. It's then that I notice something I hadn't noticed before. Clark is sitting in such a way that he's able to see the entire pub, even the two exits. It's during this silence that I noticed it, because once again, like everywhere we go, his eyes scan the room, as if looking for something.

My skin crawls again. I take a moment to scan the room, but nothing stands out to me. I'm not even sure what he's looking for. But whatever it is, whether he found it or not, I can't tell, for he just looks back over at without even the slightest change in expression. I have no idea what he's looking for but shit, I wish he would stop doing that. It makes me feel like I'm being watched. Is this how a reporter is suppose to act? I never noticed it with Lois before, always with Clark. Or is it some kind of man thing? I don't know.

I mean, I like that he appears to be very vigilant, but still, it worries me. Maybe it's because of all the badies that show up here in Metropolis looking to duke it out with Superman and one has to be ever vigilant as to not get caught in the cross-fire, but it still is starting to make me feel paranoid. Like someone is going to bust in at any moment and attack us.

It would do wonders for my research to be able to see Superman up close and personal - well really any of the Justice League - but wherever they are, there is usually trouble not far behind and even _I_ don't think my research is important enough to me to die over. I'll just keep with speculations rather than hands on experience, thanks.

We talked about random miscellaneous things while we waited for our food to show up. Lois was telling us about the story she just finished and Clark tells us how his mom, Martha, is doing. That he's going home the entire upcoming weekend to help her out on the family farm. I didn't really have much to say about myself, so I just mentioned some breaks in my thesis, but it wasn't anything all that interesting, but thankfully Lois and Clark are kind enough to listen to me.

We get our food, about half way through the meal, my phone starts ringing. I quickly apologize before pulling out my phone to see who it is. It's Bailey. I quickly answer it.

"Hey, Bailey?"

"Hey," Bailey says, I can hear my niece and nephew yelling and screaming in the background. "How are you doing? Are you eating?"

I laugh, she knows me so well. Back in my hometown, Bailey was the one who brought me food and made sure I was taking care of myself. It's... interesting that so much has change, and so little. "I am," I admit. "Actually I'm eating right now. I'm out with Lois and Clark at a cute pub that they brought me to. I like it here." I smile at Lois, who appears pleased.

"Your sister?" Lois asks quietly. I nod.

"How's Shawn?" I ask, using my fork to poke around at my noodles. "I haven't spoken to him since I moved. What's he been up to?"

"He's good," Bailey says. "You know him, he's always working, but he comes over more. I think he knows I'm lonely. He helps me with the kids."

I smile. "He's a good uncle."

"Yeah. I love that he's around more, so are the kids, but I miss you too. The kids do too. You were their favorite aunt," Bailey says.

I roll my eyes. "I'm their only aunt, Bailey. But thank you for that. I miss them too." I glance over at Clark and Lois, noting that they were eating in silence in an attempt to try and be polite while I'm on the phone. "Hey, Bailey, hold on, let me go step away so that Clark and Lois don't feel like they have to be quiet for us." I smile at them before standing up and walking over to the bar, sitting down. "Okay keep going."

"Well, we're all good here. You know our little hamlet, little changes around here," Bailey sighs. I wave away the bartender when he comes over to see if I need anything. "I guess that's good, though. I'm not a fan of drama."

"You and me, both," I say softly, sighing. I use my nail to scratch at the wood at the bar for a moment before asking, hesitantly, "So... have you seen Justin..? Do you know what he's up to?"

It's not like I really care. Actually all this talk from both Bailey and Lois made me worried about my future a bit. I'm almost scared that their words would be like a prelude to something scary but if he's still seen around town, there, then maybe their worries would be unfounded. When I left my hometown I didn't think there was a chance that the situation I was in, wouldn't be over.

I'm not the type of person that people are obsessed over. Like, people like me - to a degree - but not to an obsessive point. There is very little about me that is interesting and even less that people would find appealing enough to go over the top. It's the sort of thing that I would hear about on the news, girls being stalked and things of the similar likeliness. It's not something that happens to me.

But, I suppose that's what everybody says, isn't it? No one ever expects it to be them. No one expects, or even wants, anything bad to happen to them.

Not that anything bad happened to me. As I told Bailey, he did nothing illegal, he just gave me enough of the creeps to make me leave... my home, hometown and even state that I've lived in my whole life. But I wasn't lying when I told her that I was looking for a reason to leave at some point. I have lived in that town for a long time. Most my childhood and then when I was adopted again under my sister after our parents died, when she turned eighteen, I've lived there.

"Sort of," Bailey says blandly. "I see him in passing sometimes, but thankfully he's smart enough not to stop to talk to me. I think I'd punch him in his perfect nose if he did. God, I hate that guy."

A smile pulls at the corner of my lips. "I see, good. So, I was talking with Lois, and I'm not sure she's serious about it, but I'm thinking about taking some self defense classes, maybe with her, I don't know."

"Good idea!" Bailey says, surprising me. For some reason I expected her to be against the idea, because she usually is, regardless of what it is, but to hear that she is on my side, that she agrees with me, makes me think that this is a better idea than what I originally thought. Maybe I really will ask Lois if she can come with me for a self defense class. I don't plan on fighting any super villain, but it does make me feel better knowing that I have some tools to at least get myself out of situations that I don't want to be in.

"Yeah?" I say softly, smiling. "Okay, good. I'll talk to Lois about it. I'm glad that you're okay with it."

"Anything to keep you safe, sure I'd be happy about it," Bailey says, annoyed. "Why do you think I wouldn't be okay with it, huh? What kind of sister do you think I am, Sam?"

"Whoa," I say, eyebrows raised to my hairline, "I didn't mean anything by that. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Bailey sighs. "Sorry, it's not you. Hailey got her hands on some scissors and chopped her hair off. I have no idea where she found them. I am still salty over that, sorry."

"Aw," I run my fingers through my long brown hair. "Her cute blond hair?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes!" Bailey says, exasperated. "I couldn't believe it!"

"You're breaking my heart," I joke. Bailey makes an annoyed noise and I can't help but laugh. "It's alright, Bailey, it's just hair, it'll grow back."

Bailey lets out a long winded sigh. "I know," she says, "but that doesn't mean it doesn't still make me mad." She sighs again. "Alright, Sammy, I got to go. It's been quiet for too long, I got to go see what my kids are doing. So, I'll call you again maybe sometime tonight or tomorrow."

I let out a little laugh. "Alright, sister. I'll be waiting for your call. Bye!"

"Bye," Bailey sighs before the phone hangs up.

I stand up from the bar and walk back over to Clark and Lois to see them staring at the television we have the best view of. I sit down and look over at it to see the news being interrupted. The screen is wild and sporadic, showing images that don't make sense. They look like old pictures and drawings of people. Like o It's then that I notice that the entire room is going silent as everyone's attention is being pulled to the televisions, all of which are intercepting this signal.

"League," a deep voice says on the screen. There is something strange about it. I think they have a voice modifier of some sort. His pauses are strange and unnatural. "Justice League."

The bartender turns the televisions up so that they can be heard more clearly.

"Justice League, your time has come. It has been found. It has been found. The Keeper of Earth has returned. In the dawn of the new day, the Keeper of Earth shall awaken and take back control of the power vacuum that has been shaking our world. The new day has come. Prepare for peace, the end of the League. The end of the madness. The Keeper has returned. In the eye of man, the apple waits. The Keeper will bring about the epoch. The new day has come. The end of this era is near. Your time has come and gone. The Keeper has returned."

With that, the feed is cut and the news anchor is sitting there, looking off screen, watching a television off screen. Once she realizes that they are back on the air, she turns back to the camera, a little caught off guard, whatever she was talking about before, she must have forgotten about. She looks around confused for a moment before saying something about keeping us up-to-date on what exactly that was, before going to commercial.

"What was that..?" I ask, eyebrows pulled together. I look over at Lois. She looks a little worried and unhappy, shaking her head slowly, lips pressed together tightly into a thin line. After a moment, I look over at Clark, figuring that I wasn't going to get anything more from my first friend in Metropolis, so I turn my attention to my other friend. "Clark...?"

Clark's eyes are narrowed slightly, a crease formed between his eyebrows. There is a strange fire burning in those pretty blue eyes, his jaw is clenching and unclenching.

"Clark..?" I call out softly, reaching out to lightly touch his right forearm, as he's slightly twisted around in his seat to see the television behind him. I'm hesitant to touch him, worried that he'll snap and strike out - which is a strange feeling to have when thinking about Clark! - so I touch him lightly at first. For some reason, the delicate, protective, kind aura that usually surrounds Clark perfectly is gone. He's not exuding a dangerous aura in the slightest, but he is giving off a feeling of anger, worry and protectiveness to the highest degree I have ever seen.

His body is tense now, like a snake preparing to strike out against its prey. But he's not going to strike, it's not in his body language. Everything I've seen and felt from Clark has always been protective. He has such a strong protective instinct it's hard to be able to see its fully intensity and still think of it as such. His protective instinct is so strong, seeing him as he is now, people would think he was anxious and is probably ready to smash his fist into a wall, but not me. I can see it in the way he's shifting and placing himself.

It's almost subconscious, honestly. He's almost maneuvering himself closer to the door, but not in the sense that he would be up and out of here in a moment's notice. His eyes keep flickering around the building at everyone else inside, and his head tilts toward us slightly, making note of Lois and myself. It doesn't look like he's going to run if something comes in here looking for a fight. It almost... almost looks like he's preparing to remove everyone from the building. Like he's going to try and save everyone.

I don't know if anyone doesn't like Clark, but if there is anyone out there, I can't believe it. How could anyone not like someone like that?

I said it before and I'll say it again. In the midst of this potentially scary situation, I'm really _really starting_ to like Clark Kent.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Gostelow: I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you!_

 _2\. LOTSlover: Thank you! Sorry about the wait!_

 _3\. Judy: Aw, thank you! Hmm, I wonder. .o I know, I just love writing them together. They are like... long time best friends. XD Oh, I am super excited for that too, trust me!_

 _4\. CrazyPhenom: Thank you! I was worried it would be a bit much. I'm glad that it's okay. And yes, Lois, I don't think our friendly neighborhood bat would like the way you've been talking shit. XD_

 _5\. Leopard Queen: I'm sorry about the way! :D_

 _6\. Guest: Okay, okay! Thanks for reading this and my other stories!_

 _7\. .Grey: Aww, you do? Thank you! Clark is very precious to me. :D Haha! Will it be Bruce or is it just a trick? Who knows! I do too. I was worried that I was making Lois seem... hm, I don't know... not like Lois, but if people are okay with it, so am I! I really like her character a lot. Besides, can't have Superman without Lois Lane! I wanted to put a bit of Superman into Clark's everyday life. There has to be things that carry over both ways and I wanted that to show in his protective nature and in his observant attitude. Thank you so much!_

 _8\. Hanane EL Mokkadem: Aw, thank you! Haha, that was what I was going for. XD It's like one of my worst nightmares ever. The person you thought you knew being a creepo. Oh gosh, thank you! I didn't want her to be obnoxious or anything. She's far from perfect and is oblivious at times but she is in fact smart, I just hope I'm conveying that well. She could be a DCU character?! You are way too kind! Thank you! Sorry about the wait!_


	4. Something Else

**Author's Note: Hi there! I really enjoy the hype this story is getting! I'm getting pumped for where this is going to be going! I just finished watching Batman vs Superman for the second time and I have to say; it's really growing on me. The Wonder Woman that is starting to form in my head is going to be a mixture between the one from BvS and from the animated show Justice League. So it'll be interesting to see if I can pull her and Batman - who will also be a mix between the two - off. I love hearing what you all have to say! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,594**

"Are you sure that you don't want me to drop by? I am free tonight," Clark says over the phone in my ear.

I reach up and touch my nicely curled hair for what feels like the thirtieth time in the last five minutes, still not used to it, before forcing myself to let my hand drop lest I mess it up and have to face the wrath of my hair stylist, Olivia. She would utterly destroy me if I messed it up. Er, again. I am almost positive that she is somewhere around the corner with the hair curler and spray waiting for me to mess up again.

"I really appreciate it, Clark," I say, smiling lightly. "But I know that you'd be bored out of your mind, and while I appreciate that you are willing to waste your Friday night on this, I won't ask you to. Thank you, though."

Clark laughs lightly. "I don't have any real issue with dropping by, Samantha, really."

I hesitate. It really would be nice to be able to see Clark again since it's been over a month since I last saw Clark and Lois at that pub and we had the weird message from... whomever it was that sent out that weird... message? Warning? I'm not sure what to call it. After everything returned to normal, none of us had the stomach to finish our meals and we just sat in silence before getting to-go boxes for the remainder of our meals and heading home. Same as last time, Clark walked Lois and I home.

But this time, Clark was watching our surroundings like a hawk as we walked home. He's on edge the entire time. While flattered and slightly alarmed by how much I like Clark, I'm worried. Deeply. Either Clark has a really strong protective instinct, which he does just more than I thought, or he's genuinely deeply concerned about what is going on. I am too, but being around Lois who is so relaxed by this has calmed me down a bit. I'm new to this entire thing. I don't know how I should react in times like this. I know there was times when our world was being threatened by aliens and even people on our own planet, but it always felt like it was happening to someone else.

Everything about those situations appeared on television, like it wasn't even real. I've never actually been near the center of anything like that. So I'm not sure how to react in a situation like this. And I have two very conflicting role models.

One is Clark, who's fired up and vigilant, watching every shifting shadow and loud noise. He puts himself in the position, in buildings or on the streets, where if something were to happen, then he would be the one caught in the cross-fire first. Somehow, this behavior doesn't surprise me.

The other is Lois. She's completely relaxed and at ease. She almost makes me feel like I dreamed that entire news broadcast, but every time I look over at Clark, I know that it happened. She would look over at me, see the anxious look on my face, and then she would slide her arm over my shoulders and bump her hip against mine and tell me not to let Clark's anxiety get to me.

"You're too kind," I say, remembering that I was still on the phone with Clark. "You'll probably miss my speech if you left your apartment now, so I don't really see the point, but I am thankful for your-" A loud crash cuts me off. I jump and turn around, scanning the hallway with my eyes. "Um..."

"Samantha?" Clark says. "What was that?"

"One second, Clark," I say, walking down the hallway toward the large reception area where my colleagues are mingling with one another. "I think someone just dropped something..."

I step around the corner to see the reception area and everyone was where I left them, but quiet, looking around in confusion. There is three loud bangs and I drop the phone, it was right at my ear. There is another door, leading from the front of the building and the entrance that connects to the slightly secluded reception room, and there was four men standing right next to me, all holding guns.

I can't hear anything other than the loud ringing. I bring my hands up to my ears and thankfully they aren't bleeding but I still can't hear. I see everyone looking around, covering their heads as they fall to the floor. I'm staggering around disoriented and before I know it, I'm on my knees. I don't know if I fell or if someone pushed me down, I just couldn't say, but somehow I ended up on my knees, and then onto my left hip.

"Ow, shit," I mutter, pulling my hands away from my ears as the ringing dies down and my hearing begins to return.

"-said get down, bitch!"

I look up in time to see a hand go flying toward my face, throwing me to the floor. The right side of my face is hot as I stare down at the tiles on the floor just inches from my face. Thankfully, my hands managed to find themselves by my chest to stop my face from smashing into the ground, so there's that. I feel tears well up in my eyes and I blink rapidly to send them away. Even in this situation, a strange calmness settles over me. They are obviously robbing us - why? I haven't a clue. Yet for some reason, I couldn't summon up any fear.

I watch as two of the four men start weaving their way through the crowd, pulling out wallets and any valuable off of everyone's person. One of the men stands by the door leading into the room and the other hovers a few feet from me, looking around anxiously. His grip on his gun is cycling between a white-knuckled grip and a relaxed one. He's twitching and looking around as if expecting someone to sneak up behind him and punch him in the gut.

Despite the situation, I could tell he was overly anxious. His eyes are scanning the crowd for something. This is more than just a robbery, I can tell. At least for him, it is. Even though his face is covered by a ski mask, just like all of them, and they are dressed in all black, baggy clothes.

"Where is he?" The man yells, eyes scanning the room. "Where are you, you son of a bitch?"

No one response. No one moves, other than the other two gunmen, still walking through the crowd, pocketing the valuables of everyone else in the room.

"Doctor Kennedy? Where are you, you son of a bitch?" the man yells, eyes scanning the crowd. He points his gun at the nearest man. "Are you Sam Kennedy? Huh, old bastard?"

The man shakes his head, cowering, while my stomach drops through the floor. I suck my lips into my mouth to stop myself from saying anything. I don't want to get into any more trouble than what is already swirling around me.

But the truth of the matter swirls around me like a maelstrom of chaos. For some strange, unfathomable reason, they are here for me. I can't even begin to rationalize what reason they would have for wanting me - especially since it looks like they are here with the intention to kill and I've never been involved in anything that needs to be taken to _that_ extreme - but I'm not going to draw any attention to me if I can help it.

"I know you are, you fucker!" The man gets closer to the old man. "You son of a bitch!"

I close my eyes and let out a slow breath, praying that someone had the foresight to dial 9-1-1 and that the cops were on their way already and would be there to help them soon. He steps past me and up to the man, and I open my eyes in time to see him shove the gun against the old man's forehead, snarling down at him threateningly.

"I know Sam Kennedy is you, old man! Fess up!"

The man shakes his head briskly. "No, that's not me, I swear!" The old man says quickly, tears swelling in his eyes. My eyebrows pull together tightly and I rage war with myself on what to do. It's best to just mind my own business and hope that this man just backs off, believing that the old man wasn't who he was looking for and just lets it go, but I know that that probably wouldn't be the case.

Plus, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if this poor old man died and there was nothing I could do about it. That is, other than admit that I am - still for some reason I don't understand yet - the one that this man is looking for.

My eyes flicker over to Olivia. Her pale face is gray, making her freckles stand out. Her eyes lock with mine and she shakes her head slowly, as if she knew what I was going to do, but it's too late, my lips are already moving before I can chicken out.

"I am Sam Kennedy," I say a little louder than I intended and immediately regret it when I did. I press my eyes closed for a moment before I open them again to see the man staring at me with his eyebrows pulled together tightly.

" _You're_ Samuel Kennedy?" the man asks incredulously, like I was completely insane.

"No..." I say slowly, wondering if I could just shut up and pretend that I didn't just sign my death warrant, but my eyes flicker over to the old man to see that he was sweating profusely but looking at me as if I was his savior. And with that, I knew I had to keep going. "I'm Samantha Kennedy."

"No," the man says, shaking his head. "It's suppose to be Samuel Kennedy."

"The speaker for today is me," I say, hating that I keep talking but I'm also a bit proud of myself that I am able to keep my voice calm and my heart rate steady. I'm more calm sounding - and feeling - than what I thought I would be. "I am Sam Kennedy. Please don't hurt anyone."

I've never actually dealt with someone like him before in real life, but I've spent a good portion of my life studying people just like him. He was anxious and fidgety, but he was probably one of the most dangerous. He was waving that gun around and one look in his eye and I knew he was ready to use it. He just hasn't quite found who he wants to use it on just yet. Namely me.

When speaking to him, my voice remained even and respectful. I didn't want him to think that I was talking down to him in any way. I didn't expect that I would somehow save the day in any capacity of the word, but I certainly didn't want him to shoot anybody. Not only would that stain his conscience for the rest of his life, but mine too. I don't want to be a hero, there is enough good, hard working people out there who dedicate their lives to just that. But I can't just idly sit by and let someone else be hurt in order to keep me safe. That's just not fair. Or right.

If he's focused on me and not someone innocent, then at least no one is getting hurt. At least, I hope not. Knowing my luck, if anyone gets hurt in all of this, it's going to be me.

"I don't believe you," the man says, an odd look on his face. He pulls me from my thoughts.

Someone grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet, I'm barely on my heels before they spin me around. It's another of the gunmen. He's studying my face for a moment before he starts groping my person. I push him away. "What?" I ask, stepping away from him.

"Are you really Sam Kennedy?" The man asks, narrowing his eyes, suspiciously.

I almost wanted to say no, but I couldn't. Not with the old man's life still in obvious danger.

"I am," I admit softly and it sounds like a death sentence to my ears. "What do you want from me? Why are you guys here?"

The second man lets out a long winded laugh, throwing his head back jubilantly, like this was the greatest thing in the entire world. He slings his arm over my shoulders like we're old friends and I shrink away but can't get far. I try and twist away but he pulls me closer, shaking his head as he laughs.

"This is great," the man says, through his giggles. "Wonderful, actually." He lets out another laugh before looking over at the first guy. "You are a fucking idiot. You've obviously been played. I fucking told you that the website wasn't wrong. It's a fucking chick. The person you were looking for is a dude!" He laughs again like this was just the funniest thing that has ever happened to him.

"Please let go of me," I mumble, trying to slide away from him but he turns and starts pulling me toward the door.

"This is great," the guy laughs again. "Come on, dumbshits, we got to get out of here before the cops show up, or worse. Move, now."

He pulls me along out of the reception area and into the hall, his arm around my shoulders. I struggle to keep up as my heels clack against the marble floor beneath us. I don't say anything, I can't say anything. I can't even really think. I just follow him mutely, imagining... nothing. My mind is completely blank. It somewhere in the back of my head that whispers that I might be in shock.

Over what, though? Nothing has really happened. They didn't even really wave a gun around in my face. I don't know why I'm shutting down like I am, just that I am shutting down quicker than a television with its power cord pulled out of the wall socket.

As soon as we step outside, I'm pelted with rain. I didn't even know it was raining. It wasn't raining when I arrived here a few hours ago for rehearsal. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since it's been raining a lot the last few days and has made the river between Metropolis and Gothem a monster all on it's own. I can hear it now, even over the rainfall, roaring just on the other side of the building.

"We got to get out of here," one of the guys says, jumping into a black SUV. The guy with his arm over my shoulder forces me to walk over to the railing, the roar of the river beneath me finally pulls me out of my mental slump.

"What are you doing?" I ask, trying to pull away from him. He pushes my back against the railing and I'm painfully aware of how close the river is to me. I try and pull away from him, my self-preservation instincts kicking in, finally. Shit, was it suppose to take this long? "Stop," I say, not even sure what he's doing. "Stop it! Let me go!"

"Samantha Kennedy," the man says, leaning in close. His breath washed over my face and somewhere in the back of my mind, it supplied me with the useless information that his breath smelled like breath mints, "that dumbass doesn't know anything, but I do. With you here, as you are, the Keeper is closing in. We just need to encourage it to... come out of hiding." The man grins and finally pulls away from me.

"What..?" I wanted to ask so many questions. The 'Keeper'? Is this the Keeper that video over a month ago mentioned? The one that's going to bring about this... epoch? There was so many thing whirling through my head that came to sudden stop when his hand flew toward me and pushed me hard on the chest, pushing me back against the rail behind me, the second one, harder than the first, sends me over the edge.

My stomach flips up into my throat then to my feet as I fall backwards. It felt like a second later I hit the water. The last thing I saw was bubbles and rushing water around me, before the side of my head smacked hard against something and I black out.

I feel someone touching my chest, pressing hard against it. Again. Again. Again. Something soft touches my lips. And it's warm too. I feel hot air being blown into my mouth and the water comes rushing out. I start to weakly cough. Someone turns me to the side so I can spit the water out. My head is splitting, it hurts so bad. When I open my eyes, my vision is blurry.

Looking at my savior, I immediately see Clark and my stomach blossoms with butterflies. Even though I can't really see him, the dark hair and the bright blue eyes seem to pierce through the haze.

"Clark..." I rasp, reaching out weakly to him but the way he was holding me, I could only touch his chest. The strange, rough, foreign fabric of his shirt has a design that I can actually feel. I blink a few times to try and clear up my vision. The man's face comes into better view, still blurry but I manage to look down at his chest and see the very prominent red 's'.

"No," I rasp. "Not Clark... Superman..."

Superman's handsome face doesn't shift in the slightest, but it does blur once more before disappearing completely.

* * *

There is a loud screeching noise and the sound of crunching metal against metal. There is a heavy jolt and a soft voice, broken and weak and little. The voice of a child.

"I don't want to leave them... my brother and sister... I don't want them to be... alone..."

There was a bright light. The warmth of love, a life, flashing before my eyes, then slipping away from me like water through my fingers. The wailing sound of sirens off in the distance. Ambulance. Police. They brought me to the hospital, poked and prodded me. Then, once I was put together again, they left me alone. I stayed in the hospital room, completely and utterly alone.

I can't do it. Not again. I can't be alone like I was before. I was always alone. Always scared. Always...

* * *

I open my eyes, but it doesn't really feel like it. My vision is dark and hazy. I'm in a foreign room. A hospital room, my brain supplies me with. There is a window to my left, the curtains are pulled and moonlight is pouring into the room. There is a figure standing there. He's towering, broad shoulders and tall figure. Normally, I would be terrified of a stranger, obvious built strong with the blurry curve of the muscles on his arm prominent in the silhouette.

But I don't fear this person. Something in the back of my mind, knew who this person was. His familiar protective instinct flooding into the room. He wasn't standing over me to be intimidating, but like a silent guardian.

"Clark...?" I say hoarsely, my throat raw and my head throbbing. I have to close my eyes, I can't even see anyway. "Clark...? Is that you..? I can't see you..." I let out a shaky breath. "Why can't I see?"

I feel the shadow loom over me and large, calloused hand wraps around my left on, holding it tightly. "It's the concussion, Samantha. You hit your head really hard."

"Superman, Clark..." I whisper. "He saved me..."

Clark doesn't respond right away. "I'm sorry you were hurt, Samantha. I should have been there."

I try and shake my head but I quickly learn that was a stupid ass idea. It only makes my head throb even more. "You didn't know..." I rasp. "How could you have known?"

Clark doesn't respond to that either. He just squeezes my hand tightly before pulling away. "Sleep tight, Samantha," he says softly, voice low.

"Wait," I open my eyes and try and sit up only to fall back onto the back, feeling like I was about to throw up. I take a few moments to calm down and let my spinning head settle before reaching out for Clark again. His hand slips back into mine. "Please, Clark... I know it's beating the hell out of a cliché, but can you stay with me? Just... for a few minutes, until I fall asleep? The last time I was ever in the hospital was after the accident. I was alone then, too... please don't leave me just yet. Just a few minutes... more..." My eyes slip closed and my words slur.

"I'll be right here," Clark says softly. "Just sleep."

I mumble something incoherent even to myself. The throbbing of my head began to ease as I slipped into slumber. Even as my already loose grip on his hand weakened even more, his hand stayed wrapped around mine until I could no longer feel it. It was warm and calloused and strong. It made me feel safe. Made me feel like I could be protected from just about everything.

Thankfully, after I fell asleep, I didn't dream.

* * *

"Are you sure you should be leaving now?" Lois says, as I walk out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and jeans that she brought for me the next day. She's got a bag with my heels and sodded dress in it, in her hand. Clark is standing next to her, holding up a pair of tennis shoes for me. I smile at him and sit down on the bed, slipping them on easily. Thankfully, Lois was willing to grab my contact case with one of my many spares before bringing my clothes to me and I was able to avoid looking at either of them before I could get my contact in.

"I'm ready to go home," I say, shaking my head. "I'm on medication, I can get the stitches taken out in a few days and I just got to change the gauze and keep the wound clean. I got it. I had the nurse going through it with me. I just want to get out of here. I hate the hospital."

Lois holds her hands up into the air, the bag crinkling with the movement before she lowers her hands again. "Fine, whatever. But for the next couple of days you're going to be staying with me."

I start shaking my head. "Lois..."

"Wait, Samantha," Clark says, cutting me off. "I actually agree with Lois. For the next couple of days you really should stay with her, just to be safe."

"No, buts," Lois says, shaking her head, when I opened my mouth to complain again. "Just come with me."

I sigh. I don't have the energy to argue with either of them. I just want to get away from the hospital and lay down. "Okay. Let's go." Besides, deep down inside, I'm relieved that I don't have to go home alone. Being back in the hospital brought back a dark, scared part of myself that I didn't know still lurked beneath the surface of my mind.

I never liked being alone. I was told that by my siblings. Even before I was hospitalized after the car accident, I just didn't like to be alone. After the accident and my stay at the hospital, I began to fear it. Especially at the hospital. When I'm at home, I'm okay. It's my home. My space. But at the hospital, it's different. So many people can come to me, yet none do. They choose for me to live in forced isolation. I hate it.

As Lois was trying to hail a taxi, Clark took a moment to look over at me.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, smiling thinly.

"I'm okay," I say, fighting the urge to rub my forehead. "My head kind of hurts."

"I'm sorry again, about yesterday," Clark says, turning his light blue eyes toward Lois who was cursing after someone who practically shoved her out of the way to get into the taxi before her.

"Clark," I say, looking up at him. "Clark," I say again until he looks down at me, "you had no way of knowing that something bad was going to happen. You can't blame yourself. Besides, you stayed with me, at the hospital, I mean. You wouldn't have been able to help me in the position I was in before then. But what I needed was something there at the hospital. I'm just glad that you were there. And thankful."

Clark doesn't respond right away. He looks back over to the street, jaw working as he battled something internally. Hesitantly, he says, "You saw Superman."

I nod. "Yeah, for a second, I accidently thought he was you. Or you were him." I rub at my jaw even though it's my temples that hurt. Fight the urge, fight the urge. "No, I think I was right, he was you."

"Why did you think that?" Clark asks slowly.

"I couldn't really see very well," I tell him honestly. He was just a figure with a head full of awesome dark hair and blue eyes that came in crystal clear. They were almost the same shade as yours, I think. I was just confused." I shake my head.

"I see..." Clark says slowly, eyes scanning the surrounding streets.

Once we are finally out of the hospital, we get a taxi to Lois's apartment. It's nice and cozy and is filled with Lois's presence. There is papers scattered all over the place and maps and all sorts of things that look like they should belong in a newsroom. There is a printer in the corner next to a fax machine and a couple of pieces of paper taped to the wall above it, but I'm too far away to be able to tell what it says. Her house wasn't messy, in fact, it was pretty neat with the exception of all the papers.

Once we walk into her apartment, it's right into a tiny hall next to the open kitchen and living room with an island to separate them on the right. On the left is a door, slightly opened to reveal a bathroom and another room next to it.

"Go ahead and lay down on my bed," Lois says, nodding to the door just beyond the bathroom. "Just lay down and rest. Kick off anything that's on it."

"Is that okay?" I ask.

She nods. "Yep, we are just going to swing by your apartment and grab some of your stuff. Clothes, laptop, stuff like that. Do you need anything in specific?"

I shake my head. "No, it's only going to be for a few days. So long as you grab my laptop and phone charger, any clothes you get for me should be fine. Thank you, Lois, Clark."

"Are you hungry?" Clark asks. "Do you want us to pick up anything to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," I say, turning away. "I just want to sleep some more. Thank you again."

"Call us if you need anything!" Lois calls after me. I smile at her over my shoulder. I wiggle my fingers at them before opening the door to see Lois's room is as I suspected. It's clean but with a few papers scattered around on the bed. I gather them up and lay them on the desk in the corner before laying down on her royal blue linens, falling sleep almost immediately.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?" Lois asks, looking over at me worried.

"You have been asking me that a lot the last twenty-four hours," I say, looking over at Lois with what I hope is a droll look on my face. "I'm okay, Lois. I want to be here with you. If what Clark says is true, then I want to see if I can help figure out what's going on."

Lois sighs, looking like she wanted to pursue this a bit more but decided against it. She turns to Clark. "So, what was the report again?"

"Superman claimed to have found Sam unconscious and not breathing on the riverbank by the time he showed up. He performed the Heimlich and then brought her to the hospital," Clark says., crossing his arms over his chest. "Something doesn't sit right with me. How did she get up onto the bank? With the way the waters were going, there is no way she could have easily just washed up there. And she's not that far from where she fell. Something's not right."

"I'm here to see if I can help," I tell them, stepping up next to Lois. "I won't be crawling down there though, so just expect an eye from the sky. Good luck."

She gives me a look before lifting one leg over the rail, and then the other, before slowly climbing her way down to the bank. Clark is right behind her with surprising ease and grace. Lois looks like she's going to topple into the water at any given moment, but Clark stays close to her, keeping a hand outstretched toward her to make sure he can grab her if something went wrong. I followed along from behind the safety of the railing.

I'm not easily traumatized, I've come to learn. Even when I was in the horrible car accident that took my parents away, I was able to get into a car as soon as I left the hospital a few weeks later. I didn't have any problems what so ever. Trauma doesn't stick to me easily, I suppose. Even now, looking over at where I had fallen, I felt nothing. I wasn't scared of heights now because of this nor was I scared of water. It was like, it happened to me and now I'm over it.

I feel like that should be wrong. I should feel something more than that. I'm scare of that man. I don't want to ever see him again. I'm scared to face my colleagues about what happened. I'm also scared that whatever is going on with Justin isn't the major part of my problems. I'm also worried about that man. He said something, I know he did, right before he pushed me over the rail, but I just don't remember what it was. I think... I think I may have been in shock. I just hope that it comes back to me soon.

Clark stays close to Lois as they head toward where I was said to have been found the day before. I walk along behind the safety of the railing, watching as Clark kept his hand poised just inches away from Lois to be able to reach out and grab her at a second's notice should she start to fall over.

"Shit," Lois mutters to herself until she finally makes it to a patch of sand that is said to be where I washed up. Her and Clark split up at start looking. I reach up and start lightly touching the stark white bandages around my head. I've never had a more itchy head until now that I can't touch it until the wrapping is taken off. It's such a bother.

That's when I spot something in the mud, next to Lois and the water. I can tell, from where they are, that it could easily be missed, but from my angle, it was perfectly clear. Right next to Lois was a prominent handprint. There was six fingers, one sprouting from where the heel of the palm should be and the palm is larger than Clark is tall.

It's at that moment that I understood. Superman really wasn't the one who pulled me from the water. It was something else entirely. Something alien even to aliens.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Gostelow: Thank you so much! It's nice to be back!_

 _2\. Leopard Queen: Thank you so much! Sorry about the wait!_

 _3\. DDLo18: I have an idea on how to bring them in, that I've been mulling around. It's coming up soon. I promise. :D I'm so happy that you like the way I write. And Samantha's POV!_

 _4\. LOTSlover: Thank you! I'm sorry about the wait!_

 _5\. MEGUMlthePENGUIN: Oh my gosh, you do? I'm always worried about main character OCs. She really doesn't want to get involved with anything dangerous but - like in this chapter - would never want someone innocent hurt in her stead. She's just that kind of person. And she is by no means perfect. She's odd and flawed and as time goes by, perhaps a bit too uninvolved. She wants to stay out of the limelight that she inadvertently overlooks things that should be obvious. It'll be interesting. :D Thank you!_


	5. Meet up

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry about the wait! My brother and his family just came in to town and so I'm going to be spending some time with them for the next week, but they are out with the kids now, so it gives me some time to write. I just love the attention this story is getting and I love hearing what you all have to say! I finally brought in Diana and Bruce, I hope I did them justice. At least a little bit. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,085**

It's been three weeks since my trip into the river. Try as we may, none of us could figure out where the prints could have come from, but at that moment, Clark got this look in his eye that I'll didn't quite understand. My stitches have been taken out and I've gone back to my daily life. Thankfully I had the foresight not to say anything to Bailey about the accident so she's none the wiser and can't just insist that I come home. I know that she definitely would.

But I also took Lois up on her offer and we went to take self defense classes for the last few weeks. It was very informative but it was also a bit fun to be able to do something consistent with a friend. I really did like Lois a lot and it was nice to be able to spent time with her twice a week these last two weeks. Apparently the training is ex-military and knew that she was the daughter of General Lane - whose name is also Sam - and so he was more than willing to let us in even though we missed the sign up time for the class.

It was nice to be able to spend all that time with Lois. I got to spend even more time with Clark too. Ever since I was hurt, he's been protective overdrive, as Lois calls it. She says that he often becomes like that after something happens. Lois even joked and said that I was finally part of the club now that I had been put into danger like all the rest of Metropolis and by extension, Gotham.

As intimidated as I was, I went to more outings with people in my field. They rescheduled my speech and this time Clark would hear nothing other than me telling him where and when it would be. He was there. Him and Lois. He was there the entire time with me, even after Lois went on home because she had to head into work early the next morning to follow up on a story she was currently working on.

"But isn't it nice?" Lois asks, linking arms with me. "Now that you are officially part of the club, we'll be able to invite you to all the cool parties."

I roll my eyes. "What? You mean you've been having cool parties and haven't been inviting me because my life has never been in any true, genuine danger?" I ask incredulously.

Lois laughs. She gives a big shoulder shrug. "Exactly. Now you finally get it. Once your life has truly been put in danger, then everyone knows that you can handle yourself just fine, live the experience and be able to tell the story. Now that we know you can do that, you're golden."

I shake my head, letting out a little laugh of my own. "Right, right. Thanks."

Lois adopts a somber look for a moment, looking at the sidewalk in front of us. It was after one of our sessions and we were both heading to the nearest coffee shop to sit down and relax, as we usually do after lessons and Lois was acting a bit odd. I eye her curiously, wondering what she was thinking.

"Lois?" I call out to her.

Lois blinks a few times, green eyes flickering over to me. "Hm?"

"What's up?" I ask. Aft her curious look, I elaborate, "You look like you want to say something to me. Or at least ask me something. What is it?"

Lois hesitates for a split second, probably wanting to try and convince me that I'm just seeing things, but she must have seen that I was just going to call her out on it again, so her shoulders droop a bit and she lets out a little sigh. She gives a little tug onto our linked arms and asks, softly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm exhausted," I tell her. "That lesson kicked my ass. I'm definitely going to be feeling this one tomorrow. And next week."

Lois smiles faintly before it drops again. "No, I mean, how are you feeling? How's your head? How's... everything?"

I let out a little sigh. "It's okay. I'm fine, I mean. My head is okay, I just get headaches now and then but the doctors said that was normal. Other than that, I'm really okay. I thought I would be afraid of more things, but really I'm not. I'm okay. Just like I was before. To be honest, I'm almost sure that the whole incident never happened at all. I don't feel any different." I smile at her.

Lois doesn't seem assuaged by my words. She looks around at the people bustling past us for a moment before looking over at me as we stop at a crosswalk. "Sammy, do... do you think..."

I raise an eyebrow. "Do I think what?"

She sighs. "Do you think that maybe you're in shock?"

I tilt my head a bit. "For this long? I don't think so."

Lois shakes her head. "No, I mean..." the light turns green, we start walking, "Maybe denial is a better word for it."

I shake my head. "I don't get it, Lois, what are you trying to say? I'm okay. How can that not be fine? Why does there have to be something wrong with me?"

Lois grabs my arm and turns me toward her, not caring that people now have to go around us to keep walking. She looks down into my eyes deeply, as if looking for something. I have no idea what she was trying to find but something tells me that by the way her eyebrows pull together that she didn't see it.

"I'm not saying that there does," Lois says delicately. "I just... I just don't want you to hold your feelings in, that's all. Trust me, it's not easy to just get over a life threatening situation. It's okay to be shaken by it."

I nod slowly. "Don't get me wrong, Lois. I was terrified when it happened, but I guess... I suppose I've been dealing with the human mind for so long, I am able to just rationalize everything and move on from it. I am scared. I hope to never see those men again, but I also knew that this was a possibility when I moved to Gotham. I had no delusions."

Lois frowns a bit. "I get that, but still..."

I grab the underside of Lois's arms while she still holds the tops of mine. "I'm okay, Lois. I promise. If I need to talk or cry or freak out, you'll be the first person I call, okay?"

Lois nods. "Yeah, okay. I mean it, though, Sammy. Do it. Call me, alright?"

I pull my arms away from Lois and then wrap them around her, hugging her tightly, resting my head against her shoulder. Lois wraps her arms around me as well and holds me tightly.

"Good, so long as you do," Lois says, letting me go. "Now then, I'm hankering for some coffee! Let's go!" She grabs my arm and drags me along.

* * *

"Thank you, Ms. Kennedy," the security at the door says, stepping aside and letting me in. "Please enjoy."

I tip my head a bit. "Thank you!" I walk inside, looking around at the people talking and mingling in the lobby. I wave to one of my colleagues, stopping only for a moment to chat with them before heading toward the elevator and taking it to the roof. I take a quick moment to smooth out my long, eloquent light blue dress, loving how it shimmers in the bright florescent lights. It dips low in the front, perhaps a little more than I like and it's slit up the right side.

The elevator doors are like a mirror, giving me the opportunity to make sure my hair, while down, is still nicely curled and my make-up hasn't smudged. I don't wear a lot of make-up and not very often so when I do, I forget I have it on and just wipe it across my cheek or toward my temple without realizing it. Thankfully, I haven't done that yet.

But alas, the night is still young.

I'm nervous, I realize, smoothing my silk, shimmering dress down again.

I suck in a few deep breaths before letting my shoulders relax and a smile plaster onto my face. Once the door opens, it reveals the large rooftop is bustling with even more people. There is a stage on the far side of the rood with tables filled with food and drinks, an open bar with waist high concrete wall around the perimeter of the roof.

I step off and look around slowly, searching for any more familiar faces. I'm surprised when I spot one right away. No, two.

"Clark!" I gasp, eyes widening. "Lois!" I wave my hand around a bit. Clark, who was further away from me than Lois was, notices me first, actually turning completely around to look at me.

"Samantha," Clark says, touching Lois's arm as he walks by, heading right for me. Lois spins around, confused, before she sees me and follows after.

Clark, naturally, looks absolutely gorgeous in an all black suit, crisp white undershirt and black shoes. His pure black hair is pushed back, out of his clear blue eyes, behind thick black rimmed glasses.

And Lois, always so beautiful with her hair expertly curled and pulled up into a bun that looks messy because of the curls, with dangling earrings, a modest amount of make-up that just makes her beauty intensified in a red dress that has no sleeves, held up only by her breasts. There is a beautiful necklace hanging around her neck, it's simple but makes her even more eye catching.

"Hey!" I say, stepping off of the elevator and to the side so that if more people were to come up we wouldn't be in the way. "I didn't know you guys would be here."

"Likewise," Lois says, holding up her press pass, Clark doing the same, "we're here for work. You?"

"My cousin finally heard that I was in town and he invited me out to dinner about a week ago and said he was going to be coming to Metropolis so he invited me along," I say, smiling. "It's not often that he finds his way over to Metropolis, I'm told. He is going to be taking me out on the two later, I think, if this doesn't run late." I shrug my shoulders. "I don't mind, really. I would just like to see him."

Lois makes an interested face at that. "So, I'll finally get to meet the infamous cousin."

I laugh. "People are usually a little intimidated when they meet him, but really, he's a nice guy."

"I'm sure he is," Clark says, smiling kindly. "How have you been?"

"I am doing good," I say, offering him a smile. He smiles back. I force myself to look around, curiously, not trusting myself to keep eye contact without looking like a drooling fool. "I think he should be around here somewhere."

I spot him, standing next to a beautiful woman. She was tall with long dark hair that slides down to her lower back. Her crème colored dress wraps around her neck, leaving her back bare. The dress is low cut and clings to her curves nicely. When she turns towards us, as if sensing our presence, her eyes are the snowiest blue I have ever seen. Even at this distance I can tell she has full, thick lashes that goes for miles.

My eyes slide over to my cousin and I head over to him. "Bruce!"

Bruce smiles faintly, spotting me. He walks over to me, his arms opening up in greeting. We kiss each other's cheeks and spare a quick hug before separating. I know he's not much of a touchy-person but we were family. We were two parts of what was left.

"Who's your friend?" I ask, smiling over at the woman, standing at a polite distance away to give us a moment. "Is she your girlfriend?" I ask curiously.

Bruce frowns at that, but the woman spares us an amused smile. Bruce looks over at her for a moment, shaking his head before gesturing toward her. "Samantha, this is Diana Prince, a good friend of mine. Diana, my cousin, Samantha Kennedy."

I offer my hand for Diana to take. She does, having a stronger grip than I would have expect, but her smile is kind.

"It is very nice to meet you," Diana says, her voice is smooth and warm. "I did not know that Bruce had any family." She blinks slowly before looking over at Bruce. "That sounded more tactful in my head. I'm sorry." Bruce waves his hand around dismissively.

"We're distantly related," I say simply, shrugging my shoulders. He seemed comfortable enough with her. Usually he liked to keep things private, but once I started speaking, he didn't give me the impression he wanted me to stop. He was indifferent to the knowledge, which was odd for Bruce. "My mother and his father are cousins. That's how we're related."

Lois makes a humming noise in understanding. "I see. Very interesting."

"Thank you for inviting me here," I say, turning to Bruce. "Are we still good for dinner afterword?"

Bruce nods. "Yes, just let me give my speech, mingle a bit and then we can head out."

I smile, then glance around at Lois, Clark and Diana. "Would you guys like to come with? It would be more fun with more people, yes?"

"We wouldn't want to impose," Clark says, giving Bruce a sideways glance. It's at the moment their eyes lock that I knew they knew each other. There was no words, and there wasn't even much in their eyes that relayed it. It was more like the atmosphere around them. Something about it shifted. They went from two separate men to a united force in just a moment. Like... like they somehow had each other's back. Which was odd.

"It's fine," Bruce says easily, turning his eyes back to me. "The more the merrier." Clark stares at him for a moment, as if not sure to believe his words or not.

"I'm in," Lois says, offering a charming smile.

Diana, pretty as can be, smiles as well, at Bruce. "I am in as well. Thank you, Bruce."

Bruce raises an eyebrow at her, taking a moment to study her face before shaking his head and looking over at me. "I'm fine with it. I'll come and get you when I'm ready to go, feel free to mingle until then."

"Thank you!" I wave at him as he turns around and walks away. I turn to look up at Clark. "Have you guys met before?" I ask, almost wondering if he would lie to me. Not that it really mattered one way or another. But Bruce didn't come to Metropolis often, it's odd that he would know someone from it so well, right?

"Yeah," Clark says, looking after Bruce for a moment before turning his attention back to me. "That's quite the secret that you've been keeping," he says kindly, offering a charming half smile. "You are related to Bruce Wayne, hm?"

I offer him a smile. "I am. We've kept in touch for a long time, ever since my sister got custody of me again." I bring my hand up and run my fingers through my hair, it's only when I get them tangled in with the hairspray I used to hold my hair in place, I realized that I shouldn't of done that. My eyes wide and Lois grins at me.

Clark offers a little smile, looking away for a moment. Lois laughs, much to my embarrassment.

"It's alright, sweetie, I'll pretend I didn't notice. For your sake," she says with playful sultry. She even throws in a wink and I wish I could just die right then and there. I pull my fingers from my hair and try to pull my fingers from the tangled knots.

"Damn, I wish I could have stayed in Metropolis long enough for us all to have been able to get over this, but alas, parting is sweet sorrow," I joke, offering a corny smile.

Clark laughs, giving me a thousand watt, award winning smile. I reach up, embarrassed, and fluff up my hair, hoping to somehow hide the mess up. Diana, who was right next to me, takes pity on me like some kind of angel, and steps closer, holding her hands out to me.

"May I, sister?" Diana says, offering a small, charming smile.

I blink in confusion for a moment before nodding slowly and offering a little nod. "Thank you."

Diana steps closer, touching up my hair, manually curling it a bit. Her fingers are long and sure, treating my hair delicately. She pulls her hands back and tilts her head a bit, offering a little smile. "I tried," she says.

I look over at Lois since I can't see my own hair. "How does it look?"

Lois raises her eyebrows high toward her hairline, inspecting it with a critical eye. "It looks a lot better. You're very good at this, Ms. Prince."

Diana offers a kind smile, holding her hand up. "Please, just Diana, Miss..?"

"Lane," Lois says, offering her hand for Diana to take. "Lois Lane."

Diana takes her hand and shakes it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lois Lane." She pulls her hand back and reaches up, tucking a loose strand of long pitch black hair back behind her ear. "I'm not very familiar with this crowd, so it's nice to see some friendly faces."

"It's nice to meet you, Diana," Clark says, offering a small smile.

Diana smiles back, nodding a bit. "You as well, Clark Kent." The smile they share is a secretive one.

* * *

For the next few hours, we mingle with the crowd and one another. I got to know a bit more about Diana, who comes from an island, but she didn't specify the name or where it was, and didn't have much experience in the outside world. Apparently, they were a very reclusive culture and it shows in her mannerisms. She is careful to watch those around her to pick up on social cues or react appropriately to situations. She doesn't say much and keeps things simple, but I have noticed a very slip up that she keeps using.

Sister.

Whenever she speaks to a woman and the woman says something that she appreciates or likes, she refers to the woman as sister.

I have to wonder if there isn't many men on the island she comes from. Based on the way she deals with men, it almost appears as though she's not certain on how to deal with them. She is patient and she's not unkind, but is definitely more cautious, dare I say, of men than with women.

I suppose there could be any number of reasons for something like that, but I don't think it's any of the other options that crossed my mind. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Even though Lois is so pretty, and I am jealous of her beauty, Diana is something else. She's almost... ethereal. I'm not sure what it is about her, but there is just something that I can't put my finger on that makes her stand out. Even though all of her make up and even her dress are mute, quiet colors, there is something about her that stands out.

"She's so pretty," I whispers softly, watching Lois chat Diana's ear off. The woman seems completely relaxed around Lois, looking down at the slightly shorter woman as she talks, nodding every couple of seconds.

"She is," Clark says, stepping up next to me.

I blush. "She's so nice too. How do you two know each other, Clark?"

"We've met a few times on jobs. She is a very kind woman, I'm sure you two will get along well," Cark says, offering me a little smile.

I nod, finally pulling my eyes away from Diana and Lois to look up at Clark, and flush even more at his charming smile. "I'm sure. She's very nice. Say, do you think there is something going on with Diana and Bruce? I don't think I've ever seen him bring a woman like that to any of these, and she doesn't seem like something to just keep on his arm." I purse my lips a bit.

Clark's charming smile intensifies a hundred times over. "I wonder," he says illusively. "I think they look good together." He lets out a little laugh, as if he thought of something humorous, but he shakes his head when I look over at him quizzically. "Sorry," Clark says, his cheeks coloring a bit in embarrassment, "I just thought of something that would probably get me in trouble if I told anyone."

I raise an eyebrow, curious as to what that could be, but figured it was best not to ask.

"Samantha?" Clark says, after a few moments of silence between us. We've just been standing there, watching everyone else around us in serene peace, when Clark spoke up. It was after Bruce's speech, everyone is back to mingling again.

I glance up at him. "Yes?"

"Are you..." Clark says slowly, looking down at me, as if mentally debating something.

"Am I..?" I ask, eyebrows raised. I look up into his pretty blue eyes wondering what could be warring behind those beautiful orbs. He looks like he wants to say something, while at the same time, he looks like he doesn't want to say anything.

He changes tactics. It appears as though whatever he was fighting again, he lost to. "How are you?" He asks instead.

"I'm good," I say. "How about you?"

Clark frowns at that. "What do you mean? I'm fine."

I bump my shoulder into the middle of his arm. "I was the one tossed into the river, yet it feels like you are more upset than I am. You know, you don't have to be with me all the time, everywhere."

Clark blinks a few times, looking bashful. "Am I annoying you?"

I laugh. "That's not possible," I say, hoping it sounded genuine and not... creepy. "I mean, I really like you, Clark." As soon as the words left my lips, my heart jumps and I quickly try to rectify it. "Not that I like you, like you, or anything like that. I like you like as just a friend. Well, not _just_ a friend. But like, more than a friend. No, I mean, not like _more_ than a friend but..." I panic, rubbing my hands together tightly, nervously. "I... think I backed myself into a corner." I cover my face with my hands, too embarrassed to care that I would smudge my make-up.

Clark lets out a deep chuckle, obviously amused by my verbal vomit.

While I'm glad that he's not completely creeped out by my words, I still can't believe I said that. It would have been a good place to stop at I like you. I could have said that, and not elaborated or tried to make it better than it was. I really messed up big time. I just hope that he would take what I said at face value and not think about it. Like, ever again.

I let out a low groan. I can feel his eyes on the side of my head. I wish I could just melt into the floor and never have to come up for air ever again. I can practically feel him smiling next to me.

I twist around a bit, trying to dislodge this embarrassment when I finally just sigh and let my hands drop to my sides. As soon as I raise my head a bit, I see something out of the corner of my eye. I snap my head towards it, but I lost it in the crowd, but not before the deepest more undeniable sense of fear overwhelms my senses. My entire body tenses up as my breathing is cut short. My eyes feverishly search the crowd of faces for the one in particular that caught my eye, but I can't find him.

I can't find him anywhere.

I whip around, trying to locate him. All of the faces are becoming blurs to me. I am moving around too much and too fast to be able to accurately see anything around me clearly.

"Samantha?" Clark calls out to me, but I can barely hear him. "Samantha, what's wrong?"

My blood is roaring in my ears. Everything Lois and Bailey has said to me, is echoing around inside my brain. Bouncing around any and all corners, reminding me over and over and over again that I'm not safe. No matter where I am, I can never be too careful, and that is the last thing I've been since I got here. Careful. I never thought that my past would really follow me. It felt like that was something that would happen to someone else, not me. It was something that happened to people that mattered.

Not someone like me.

"Samantha?" Clark reaches out toward me, I see him in my frantic twist and turns, but he doesn't grab onto me. He doesn't touch me. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I couldn't see him again, but there is something clawing at the back of my mind. I know what I saw. I'm not just seeing things. Everything that Lois and Bailey have been warning me about is true. When I left home, that wasn't the end of it all. It wasn't some kind of healthy break, it was just stalling the inevitable. He was here. He was going to get me.

Something horrible continues to tug at the back of my mind.

What could he want? Why would he be here? How could he have known?

My heart jumps again. He's going to do something. He's going to do something to me. Something to my friends. I don't know what. But he will. It's just something that I can feel. Something is going to happen.

Someone grabs hold of my arm and the utter panic and fear that courses through me in that very moment is silenced only by the loudest, most malicious roar I have ever heard in my entire life. For a split second, I wondered if perhaps it was all part of my imagination, but I could see the glass planes of the windows on the building across from us that the windows actually shook from the ferocity of the roar.

That, and the entire roof went dead silent.

My heart leaps up into my throat as the hand on my arm, slides up to my back. I turn sharply to see Clark standing close to me, hunched over slightly with wide blue eyes. He's scanning the sky for whatever could have made that noise. That wasn't where my first instinct would take me; to the sky, but it was an interesting first place.

But putting that aside, I press myself closer to Clark, feeling safer with him right there. But I still felt like my life was in danger, which is absurd, but I can't seem to rationalize it. All I can think about is how in my self-defense classes, they kept mentioning that I would have to be constantly aware of the situation around me. I was never truly safe, even with my skills. That this was all some kind of precautionary measures to get out of the immediate danger and get to someone who can help. AKA the police.

But there isn't any police here. And I somehow doubt that they would be able to fight off whatever it was that made that noise.

Everyone had hunched over, looking around slowly, worried a sudden movement would draw out whatever it was that made that roar. Some people start to straighten up again, perhaps sensing that the danger had somehow passed when in the corner of my eye, I see his face again.

Justin.

And my stomach leaps back up into my throat as the panic begins to slip back into my system.

There is another roar, so loud it rattles my eardrums. I can hear the sound of shattered glass, but I can't see it. Clark pulls me tightly to his chest in that instant. I grab hold of him tightly and somewhere in the corner of my eye, I see Bruce sneaking his way over to us, stopping only to say something to Diana. She nods and disappears into the crowd as Bruce makes his way to us. His eyes are also scanning the sky.

I press myself as tightly to Clark's chest, heart pounding. The hair on my back of my neck stands on end and it's at that moment that I knew something. I have no idea how I knew it, just that I did.

"Clark..." I whisper, tears of fear swelling up in my eyes. I didn't want to be here. "Clark..."

"What?" Clark asks, sparing a moment to look down at me, his eyebrows pulled together tightly. "What is it?"

"Something is here," I whisper, as a wave of hot breath, blows on my back. Clark's eyes widen.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. DDLo18: White Martians? Hm... that would be interesting. _o But you'll just have to read more to find out! I'd love to hear more of your guesses, though!_

 _2\. Gostelow: Oh my, thank you so much! I really appreciate it!_

 _3\. kadmac: Thank you so much! I'm happy to hear that you liked the introduction! I am so glad that you like Samantha! I'm always worried about OC's because they shouldn't be made too great or awesome. They are like regular people, flawed and incapable at times and I worry sometimes that I may not be capturing that as much as I should. I am so glad that you think I wrote Clark well, he's one of the main focuses of the story so making sure he's believable, or at least likeable, is a great first step! I don't know, I just really like the humorous, friendly Lois, who is three dimentional. She is serious about work and the safety of her friends, but she's also fun and likes to spend time with those she cares for. Thank you again!_

 _4\. Guest: They really do! And they showed up a bit in this chapter. Not as much as I like, but it's a good start, I think._

 _5\. .2016: Oh my goodness, thank you!_


	6. Escape

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Sorry about the long wait! I've been so busy with all my other stories, work and life that I kind of lost track of this story a bit. I really like this story and want to keep going with it. I love hearing from everyone and hope that I can hear more from all of you. I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter but I'm exhausted and had to get this out before I head to bed. I hope you all enjoy! Goodnight!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,101**

Clark's bright blue eyes slowly slide over my head to the open space behind me. I clench his lapel between my hands and press myself as close to him as I physically can, feeling the hot breath blow against my back, ruffling my hair. I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking and whimpering weakly. I can feel tears push up against the backs of my eyelids.

"Oh my god," I whisper. "What's behind me..?"

Clark doesn't respond right away, one of his hands settles on my hip while the other settles on my shoulder, keeping me close. I swallow a bit of my fear and raise my eyes to see Clark staring over the top of my head, his eyebrows pulled together tightly, a frown on his lips. There is a dangerous, but protective glint in his eyes even as his jaw muscles clench and unclench in worry. My heart plummets. He wraps his arms protectively around me, ready to throw me out of the way at a moment's notice.

"Clark..?" I whisper, too scared to turn around to see for myself.

Clark's lips part slowly. "I...don't know..." he says slowly, blue eyes flickering back and forth quickly. "But it's still here. Be very still."

I nod slowly. My eyes slide past Clark to see Bruce lowering into a crouch next to us. His blue eyes narrowed as well, scanning the space behind me. Clark closes his eyes for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath before opening his eyes and adapting this look on his face as if he was straining his eyes to look at something, the muscles of his jaw working. Everyone else on the roof just looks around confused, not knowing what to do.

"Is everyone alright?" A man asks, standing up.

As soon as he spoke, Clark and Bruce snap toward him. "Wait!" Clark yells while Bruce shushes him, but it's too late. There is another ear splitting roar and the cement wall next to us yields, smashing into pieces as something shimmering leans over the top of us.

The roof is filled with screams as everyone ducks down again. Some people start to cry while others stare wearily up at the figure hovering over them as it leans in closer before roaring so loud I had to cover my ears in order to try and save my eardrums. Some of the people directly beneath it are spit all over. I actually see a woman faint, hitting the ground hard.

The shimmering begins to fade before something comes into view. The first thing that I noticed was it's large, bulging eyes. They were completely white, along with the entire rest of it's body. Everything was this pale white color. Instead of there was one joint in the arm acting as the elbow and the other acting as the wrist, well this one has two elbow-like joints and a single wrist like joint. It has four arms, all with six fingers, with one of the fingers where the heel of the hand should be. All of the fingers being the same length as oppose to shorter ones like pinkies and thumbs.

One of it's four arms is in the middle of the roof, using it to hold itself up while it's top right one is holding onto the roof of the building next to us and it's tail, which is like an arm except it doesn't have any joints, like a monkey's tail but with fingers - six of them - at the end, helping hold it up and keep it's balance as it hovers over us menacingly.

Looking into it's bugged out white eyes, I saw something discolored inside, and for a split second, I thought it was a pupil. But when it shifted, I realized that it wasn't pupils, but it's brain. It's eyes, and even the rest of it's skin, was all translucent.

"Clark," I whisper, unable to pull my eyes away, "what is that?"

"I... don't know," Clark whispers back, shifting me behind him very slowly, trying to avoid any sharp, sudden movements. I'm not sure how safe he thinks I am behind him, but I have to admit, it did give me a bit of relief too. Clark was gentlemanly enough to put my safety before his own. He really was one of a kind. I obey and slowly slide behind him, curling my fist around a section of his black jacket.

Someone, I don't know who, gets it into their head that the only viable option left to do, instead of calmly stare back at the giant monster, decided that screaming and running for the elevator was a good idea. My eyes flicker over there right as the monster jerks in that direction, roaring once more before it's lower right arm reaches down and plucks the man up from the roof, spares him a simple glance before tossing him over it's shoulder as if he was nothing more than dirt. As if he was a toy a young child was thoughtlessly discarding because it not longer amused them.

The man screamed. So did everyone else. The it wasn't just a worried, hushed silence. No, it was full on panic. Someone pushed into the back of me, which forced me into Clark's back which was like being pushed up against a brick wall. I literally smashed my face between his shoulder blades, making my eyes water. His feet were so planted no matter how hard I hit the back of him, he didn't budge a bit.

My nose and eyes burn but thankfully I'm not pulled away by the mad dash because of Clark's ironclad grip on my left wrist while my right hand is busy covering my face. The monster roars above us yet surprisingly I could barely hear it over the screaming and pushing of the crowd around me. Clark holds onto me close, not budging against the force of the people swarming to the elevator and stairway leading down into the building.

"Clark!" Lois calls out. I barely hear her over the stampede, but Clark's ears are like a dogs and his head snaps into her direction for a split second before turning back toward me.

"Follow the crowd," he says. "Get out of here. I'm going to go get Lois."

"Please be careful," I say. Spotting the man discarded by the monster being caught by what appears to be Wonder Woman. She quickly flies down to the ground and lets him go. "Whoa," I whisper, being pulled away by the crowd as Clark pushes his way through the wave of people to get to Lois. I wanted to stick around to make sure that he got to her, but before I could be sure, I was pushed into the stairwell.

I turn to look for Bruce but I can't find him in the crowd. I'm not tall enough, even in my heels, to be able to look over the heads of the people around me. And even if I could, the stairwell is too dark for me to be able to see much anyway. I trip four steps down the stairs but run into the person in front of me, thankfully, rather than falling down the stairs or onto them and being trampled. So that's a plus, I guess.

Someone, I don't know who, pushes me to the side, toward the railing, nearly tossing me over the side. My heart launched up into my throat and all of the noise of battle outside intensifies as a whole is bashed through the wall leading outside by a large, dark gray hand, grabbing a handful of people around me, narrowing missing me pressed up against the railing and pulls them out.

All those around me freeze, despite the pushing coming from above. I take a small, slow step forward, heart pounding as there is another roar outside, shaking the building around us. I'm not certain what possessed me, but a part of me had to know that they were okay. I don't think I got very close, but then I felt a hand on my back - the very center of it - and a hard push. The panic continued as I tumbled out the window. There is madness and havoc around me as I flip and topple head over heels. A scream rips from my throat, arms flailing around me.

I flip around a few times, disorienting myself when I spot something flying right toward me. There is an angry roar above me before the black thing hit me hard in the right side. There is a blossom of pain in my right shoulder, hip and hand, that was pinched between my side and the thing that hit me. Thankfully, I didn't bounce off and continue the descent to my death. The thing - definitely a man - wraps an arm around my ribs, holding me tightly to a very hard chest. I manage to wiggle my right arm, ignoring the throbbing in place for survival and basically wrap myself around the man.

I lost my shoes, I realized when locked my legs around his waist - it's strange and bulky, hard and cold - and my arms around his shoulders, hopefully making it easier to hold me. In the flurry of motion, my hair flying around my head, I can see a pitch black armor beneath my arms and feel a hard - helmet? Mask? - pressed against the side of my head. A long black cape flutters behind him as we soar.

Batman. Batman caught me.

No wonder it felt like I was hit in the side by a freight train. My arm is throbbing but I can ignore it so long as my life is in danger. I would rather be hurt than dead. Simple as that.

We soar through the air a moment longer before we hit the concrete ground by one of the large sky scrapers. I can see the rooftop that I was on, just minutes before still supporting the large monster as it bats away what appears to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Hawk Girl. They fly around it's head, fighting and being swatted away like flies.

Now that I am away from the havoc and the assault, my heart rate begins to slow down. Once Batman lets me down, my legs almost didn't hold me up. Batman's hand wraps around wrist to hold me up when a strange noise catches my attention, his mask twisted into a permanent scowl. Batman turns around slowly to look back over his shoulder to see this bright, colorful strip of light appear in the sky. It was so bright, the stars above disappeared and my eyes actually hurt staring up at it.

Through squinted eyes, I can see the large creature stepping off of the building and into the light without appearing again on the other side. It took a split second before I realized what was happening.

"It's slipping into a different... dimension..?" I whisper, my eyes widening. Batman makes a noise, that might be a sound of agreement, but I couldn't really hear it. A part of me wanted to stay and see how this all works out. I wanted to see more of the Justice League. I wanted to study them - definitely from a distance. I'm good with distance - but when Batman turned to me with glowing white eyes, saying that I had to hurry home, I knew I couldn't stay.

Part of the reason was because that was just insane. It's not safe here. A rational person shouldn't want to stay in the middle of danger - and I don't want to. I want to go home. I want to get out of this dress and rest my pulsing arm. I want to get out of the danger as quickly as possible.

"Okay," I say softly. "I'm going." I take a step away before hesitating, glancing up at the roof once more. The creature is gone but people are now pouring out into the streets, running away into darkness as the multicolored light vanishes. "Batman," I call out as the hero takes a step away. He pauses, glancing over at me from over his shoulder. "You.. are going to make sure everyone is okay, right?" I ask softly. "My friends and my cousin was up there..."

"I will make sure," Batman says gravelly before turning and disappearing into the crowd heading toward the building.

Without waiting a moment longer, I turn and head home.

* * *

I am in pain.

It's been a few hours but my shoulder is still throbbing, even worse now than before. My leg is starting to bruise alongside my arm. Those are just tender, but my shoulder is what hurts the most. I'm not mad about it, but it makes it hard for me to pace back and forth with an aching right side. I managed to lose my purse at some point during the night. I lost everything. My phone, wallet, everything. I had no way of reaching Lois, Clark and Bruce to make sure that they are alright.

My right side really hurts, but all I can really focus on is the fact that I don't know if any of them are okay. I'm practically walking a rut into the floor between my couch in the 'living room' area of my apartment, and the 'bedroom' part of my apartment. My legs are starting to get tired, but I couldn't bring myself to sit down and relax. I managed to take a shower, wash away all of the dirt and hairspray in my hair and the dirt and blood from my feet.

Walking home without shoes - and that's simply trying to find my way home since I needed my phone to help me get to my destination in the first place - so finding my way home without shoes made it very difficult. I think my feet found every single sharp rock on the road on the way home, because it broke the skin once or twice on each foot. Nothing a simple bandage couldn't fix, thankfully.

There is a knock on the door that pulls my attention to the front door. I practically run/limp all the way over there, not even pausing to swing the door open. My heart flutters when Clark stares back at me. I don't even hesitate a moment, I throw myself into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly with my legs dangling off the ground. I feel his arms wrap around me for a moment before letting me pull back.

I reach out and touch his face, turning it from side to side to see if there was any injuries. Once my eyes scan over his body a few times, not seeing any injuries, I wrap my arms around his neck again, relishing for a moment that we were both okay before pulling back again.

"Is Lois okay? Bruce? Did you see them?"

"Lois is safe at home," Clark says, following me into my apartment, shutting the door behind him. "I made sure that she got home. She's okay. A little worried, but Lois is strong. She's going to be okay."

I drop down onto the edge of my bed, aching everywhere now. My feet, calves and my right side. I can't wait to go to bed tonight. I know tomorrow is going to be hell, but I just want today to be done with.

"Thank goodness. And Bruce? Did you see him?"

"Last I saw him," Clark says slowly, standing in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest, his black jacket is missing and his dress shirt is rolled up his forearms, "he was heading back to Gothem. I think he made it home alright."

"Can I borrow your phone?" I ask. "I lost my purse in the havoc. I just want to leave a message with him or Alfred to make sure that he's alright. May I?"

Clark nods, fiddling with his phone for a moment before handing it over to me. I type in Bruce's home phone number and put it to my ear as the phone rings. "Oh, have you heard from Diana? Did she make it out okay?"

Clark nods again. "Yes. She's fine."

I offer him a little smile and after the fifth ring, the phone picks up.

"Wayne residence. How may I help you?" Alfred asks.

"Alfred? It's Samantha," I say, pushing some of my damp hair behind my ear.

"Miss Samantha, how are you doing?" Alfred asks, sounding pleased to hear from her.

"I'm okay," I say softly, rubbing my right shoulder a bit. "Um, have you spoken with Bruce in the last two hours or so?"

"No, ma'am," Alfred says. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," I say quickly, not wanting to worry the older man. "There was just an incident with... um, a large monster where we were at and I wanted to make sure he got home safely. My phone is gone, so I won't be able to catch a call from him, but if you don't end up hearing from him, can you call back on this number for me? It a friend of mine; Clark Kent, and I see him often, until I get a new phone?"

"Of course, Miss Samantha," Alfred says easily. "I'm sure Master Wayne is on his way back as we speak. I will let you know if I do not hear from him by tomorrow."

"Thank you, Alfred," I say, heart rate slowing down. I can finally start to relax. Once I know for certain that Bruce made it home safe, I can sleep for the following week without a care in the world. I'm counting down the seconds.

"Of course, Miss Samantha. I hope that you are alright?" Alfred asks, a touch of worry finally entering his voice.

"I'm okay," I say, curling my toes a bit, feeling the pain, before relaxing them again. "Thank you again, Alfred. Have a good night."

"You too, Miss Samantha." The line cuts off on the other side. I turn off the phone and hold it out for Clark to take. He does and puts it into his pocket without sparing it another glance.

"Thank you," I say, pushing my long dark hair over my shoulders and look up at him. "I... don't know what to say. Or, do, really." I drum my fingers on my bare knees for a moment.

Large, pale hands settle over my own as Clark lowers himself into a knelt position on one knee in front of me. His large, bright blue eyes stare up at me, studying my face as if trying to see something he wasn't sure was there. His glasses are in place - somehow - after all of that madness. What matters, though, is that everyone is okay. Hopefully no one was seriously hurt and all of the damage done to the hotel that we were at earlier this evening can be repaired.

Other than that...? Other than that, sleeping and then trying to moving on seems like just about the only thing that I really can do.

"Samantha," Clark says slowly, "are you okay?"

I nod. "Yes. Or, no." I look around my apartment, as if seeing it for the first time. I'm not sure how I feel right now. If I even feel anything at all. Could I be in shock right now? I don't know. "I'm not sure how I feel right now," I mumble.

Clark nods slowly. "And that's okay." He gives my hands resting on my knees a little squeeze. "You just need to lie down and get a bit of sleep." His thumbs lightly rub against the back of my wrists.

"I can't," I say softly, shaking my head. "I need to wait until I hear from Bruce. I can sleep afterword."

Clark stares up at me for a long, drawn out moment before giving a little nod. "Okay. How about I stay with you tonight, at least?"

The innocent prude in me wanted to throw his hands off of me, blush madly and tell him that I wasn't ready for that level of commitment just yet. That we should start going out first before we start spending the night _anywhere._

But the innocent, scared young woman who just went through quite the ordeal for the first time needed someone who I could rely on to stay with me. While I might be more comfortable with Lois, simply because I can curl up in bed with her without it being weird and talk all night about how the hell I'm going to deal with all of this, but Clark isn't like anyone else I've ever met.

Clark wasn't asking to stay with me because he had any intention of doing anything that would make my older sister march halfway across the states, grab me by the ear and drag me back to my hometown and lock me in her basement for the rest of forever. No, I could see it in his eyes. He was worried about me. Probably worried I would go stumbling into the night and get hit by a car or something in my shock. He wants to make sure that I am okay. At least until I come to terms with whatever just happened. I think.

He must have really seen something on my face if that's the impression I'm getting from him.

"Okay..." I say softly, nodding a bit.

Clark offers a little smile, standing up, pulling me up with him and leading me down to my couch and basically dropping me off there on his way to the kitchen to grab me a glass of water and make some popcorn that I munch on whenever I want a snack. I just sit there on the couch, staring at the blank black screen on the television, stuck in a stupor I didn't know I was in until Clark settles down next to me.

He turns on a random movie channel and we just sit there and watch in silence. I'm not really sure what we were watching, I wasn't paying much attention, but I was mechanically eating some popcorn and staring at the screen.

* * *

I fell asleep.

I'm not sure when or for how long, but I did. It is still dark out when I open my eyes a bit to see the window across from me, and the television is still on. This time it's playing an old football guy. College, I think. But I don't recognize either of the teams. I'm laying with my head down on the arm of the couch and my legs angled toward Clark. One leg is bent, my left one, while my right one is in his lap. I can feel him pulling at the bandages off.

Through bleary eyes, I can see the first aid kit that I keep in my hallway closet in front of my front door. I have no idea how he knew that it was there - unless that's a typical place for people to keep it? I didn't really know where else to put it where I would remember - but I'm kind of not surprised that he's taking care of me. It just seems like such a Clark thing to do. Care for others, I mean. Not just me. I'm not, like, important or anything.

I groan out loud without meaning to. When I realized it, my eyes flicker to Clark, who is smiling faintly at me. The light from the television casting a shadow on the left half of his face.

"Sorry," he says, nodding down to my feet. "The bandages were coming off." A pause, then, "And you shouldn't put regular bandages on your feet. They come off too easily. Luckily you had some gauze in there. It's a bit better for injuries like this."

"How do you know how to take care of injuries?" I ask, perplexed. "Did you take a class or something?"

Clark laughs a bit, shaking his head. "No, nothing official like that. You pick up a thing or two out on a farm. I may not have gotten hurt much but I had to help my dad out sometimes when he got hurt, before I was old enough to do everything myself."

I raise an eyebrow. "I see." He takes a moment to finish wrapping up my foot before putting the gauze back into the kit and closing the little box up. "Thank you," I say softly, rotating my ankle a bit. My feet don't really hurt much anymore, but my shoulder is throbbing like none other. There is a bunch of small ache and bruises I can feel across my body but my shoulder is what hurts the most.

"Batman saved me today," I say softly.

Clark looks over at me with clear blue eyes. "Oh?" He says. "What happened?"

"Or, yesterday? Is it yesterday yet? I don't know." I shake my head a but turning onto my back slowly. "It doesn't matter, but it's kind of weird, you know? Being completely safe one moment and then not the next." I bring my left hand up to my forehead. "I don't know what I'm saying."

"Are you alright?" He asks curiously.

"My shoulder hurts," I admit. "Do you think I need to go to the hospital?"

Clark tilts his head to the side. "Here," he says, standing up. "Let me turn the light on and I'll tae a look."

"You're a doctor now?" I ask, meaning for it to be a friendly jab but it almost sounded like an accusation. Thankfully Clark didn't take it that way and smiles over at me as he walks to the switch on the wall.

"Something like that," he says, playfully. He flips on the light, momentarily blinding me. When I can see again, Clark is already at my side again. "Sorry," he says, smiling in a way that makes me think that he wasn't all that sorry. Or at least he was trying to be playful about it. "Okay," he turns toward me, "show me your right shoulder."

"I didn't say it was my right shoulder that hurt," I say, sitting up slowly. I can't even put any weight on my right hand because of the throbbing in my shoulder.

Clark stares at me. "It's kind of obvious by the way your favoring it."

I blush. "Right, sorry."

I roll up the t-shirt I am wearing and finally get a look at my shoulder. It's almost black. My heart picks up and for a strange, unexplainable second, all I could think of was that I got frost bite. Which is really stupid seeing as I was no where near the cold in months and it just appeared out of the blue.

"Oh my god," I whisper, turning toward the light a bit more. No wonder it was throbbing so bad. "Should I go to the hospital?"

Clark stares at my arm for a moment, eyes gaining this far away look before shaking his head. "No," he says softly, reaching forward to touch my hot skin with his cool fingers. He turns it toward him a bit more. "No, I think it's okay. It's badly bruised, but I don't see any bones protruding and I think it would hurt a lot more if your fractured something. It's going to get a lot worse looking before it heals and it'll be sensitive to the touch for a while but I think it'll heal just fine."

"You think so?" I ask, not sure I believe him. He did admit to not having any sort of professional training in the medical field.

Clark nods, running the pads of his fingers over my wounded flesh. It feels a mixture of good and bad. The temperature of his hand feels nice, but if he applies any pressure, it hurts.

"Yes," Clark says, "we are just going to have to ice the area for the next two days or so for the swelling I can see. Ice for about fifteen minutes at a time and try not to move your arm for a few days, let the joints rest."

I mean, it sounds legit. I don't really get hurt a lot and if I do, I usually ignore it until it's healed, but this was different. This was a type of pain I can't easily ignore. Plus if I can't use my right arm much for the next few days, I can't really do much of my research or anything seeing as it's my dominant hand. On one hand - forgive the phrasing - I want to just believe that a few days of rest and ice is going to make my shoulder okay but on the other, I don't want it to be something serious and I don't get it checked out.

"How did this happen?" Clark asks, probably seeing me war with myself on what to think.

"Um, I fell from the hotel," I say. Clark blinks a few times quickly. "Batman caught me. It's how he saved me. My shoulder jammed into his chest. Um, armor? Hard plastic? No, it'd have to be armor, it hurt too much to be hard plastic."

Clark shakes his head, turning his bright blue eyes toward the window, staring out at the darkness beyond for a long moment before sighing. "I'm sorry that you got hurt," he says, looking over at me with genuine remorse in his eyes.

"It's okay," I say slowly. "It's not like you could have done anything."

Clark frowns at that and looks away again. "Right," he says. "Nothing."

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Gostelow: Really? I'm glad!_

 _2\. Leopard Queen: Thank you so much! I am sorry about the long wait!_

 _3\. .2016: :D_

 _4\. stubs1101: Oh goodness, really? Thank you so much! I'm so happy that you are liking it so far! I'm glad that you like Samantha, too. I am always worried with OCs. :3_

 _5\. Moonacre BunBun: You make me so happy! I just adore the fact that you like Samantha! I couldn't be happier! OCs are really hard for me. I try not to make them perfect, but always worry that perhaps they are or they are simply unlikeable. But, thank you for liking her!_

 _6\. Guest: Thank you! Sorry about the wait!_

 _7\. AndrianaWarrior7: You actually ship Samantha and Clark? Oh my! Thank you so much! That makes me happy! I am so super sorry about the wait!_


	7. Long time no see

**Author's Note: Hello! I'm sorry about the wait! I have no excuse! You have all been so sweet to wait patiently! I absolutely love hearing all that you have to say! I'm a bit iffy about this chapter, but trust me, I've got a plan. :3 Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,821**

About an hour later, Clark's phone rang. He answered it, and then handing the phone to me. It was Bruce. Thankfully he was calling to say that he made it home safely, which was a great relief. It was about two o'clock in the morning when he called. I'm thankful that he did so that I could sleep with a bit more peace of mind. I went to bed not long after and Clark slept on the couch.

It was a little weird. I've never had a boy sleep over with just me, without us being in a serious, intimate relationship. I mean, he's sleeping on the couch, so it's not like anything scandalous is going on, but still, it's weird. I didn't have a lot of friends when I was younger, so I've never gone to big house parties and smoked, drank and had sex. I wasn't that type of person.

As much as I would like to say that thinking about Clark in my house, sleeping on my couch kept me up at night and distracted me with his cuteness, it didn't. He made me feel safe and comfortable and I'm sure he slept on the couch all night. I'm a pretty light sleeper and having someone else in my house that I'm not used to was a shift in the room that would wake me up easily.

I know that he got up once to go to the bathroom, but then returned to bed. After he returned I got up to take my contact out. I forgot that I had it in and it was starting to really irritate my eye. I stumble back to bed and collapse there. I fell asleep completely until morning.

I wake to the sound of Clark cooking in my kitchen. I roll over onto my left side. My right shoulder is so tender and throbbing right now, but I know I have to get up and put my contact back in before Clark sees my eye without it. So, begrudgingly, I push myself out of bed and walk into my bathroom and stick my contact back in before heading over to the kitchen. I sit on one of the chairs at the peninsula and watch him cook.

He glances over at me for a moment, offering a charming smile before continuing to cook. He moves the bacon around the pan before turning his attention to the eggs.

"How do you like your eggs?" Clark asks.

"Anything is fine," I say simply. "Whatever you're having. I'm easy to please." I want to bang my head against the counter top until I pass out, but thankfully Clark's back is toward me so he can't see me making crazy gestures behind his back at my own stupidity. I lay my head down on the counter top, thankfully without the banging, because the last thing I need is a massive headache to go with the ache in the rest of my body and the throbbing in my shoulder. The granite is nice and cool under my forehead.

I feel something hot and heavy settle on the back of my head. I turn my head to the side so that it's my cheek pressing against the granite to see Clark staring down at me with large light blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" Clark asks softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," I assure him. "I'm just... tired, I think." Which isn't a lie. I am tired. I still feel like I can sleep for about three weeks and then finally feel well rested. I'm two weeks and six days away from just getting that.

"How's your shoulder?" he asks.

"It hurts like you wouldn't believe," I admit. I sit back and start to lift it a bit, but I can barely move it without it hurting. So I relent and lightly rest it onto my lap and leave it there.

Clark nods slowly. "I bet." He turns away and continues cooking.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. I watch as he cooks, easily able to figure out my small kitchen after opening the cabinets a few times. It is actually quite impressive. In just two experiences in my kitchen, he appears to know it a lot better than I do. I swing my feet back and forth a bit. The bandages from last night are still on them, but they don't hurt anymore, which is a relief, at least.

"Clark," I call out as he starts making our plates. My voice gives him pause.

Turning to look at him, he asks, "Yes?"

I run my fingers through my hair a bit, scratching at my scalp slowly, probably messing up my hair even more than it already is. "Thank you for staying with me." I offer him a little, lazy smile. "I really appreciate it."

Clark's smile is dainty, but kind. "You're welcome."

* * *

"You didn't have to come all the way here, Bruce," I say, opening the door wide to let my cousin into my small apartment. Bruce walks into my home and heads over to my living room-like area before turning to look at me.

"Perhaps," he admits, "but you are missing all of your money, credit and debit cards, and your ID. Let me help you get that situation ironed out." He crosses his arms over his chest and gives a little nod, almost to himself.

Figuring that I wasn't going to be able to convince him that I would be able to figure it out - even though I honestly have no idea where to even start with any of this - I let out a little sigh before nodding. "Very well." I appreciate that he wants to help me out, but I know that he is a very busy man and the fact that he's here with me means he's not doing something that is probably more important. Even though a part of me wants to continue to insist that he head on back to Gotham and do whatever his original plans for today were, I also knew that I probably wouldn't be able to figure out what to do on my own, and he was my cousin, my time with him already was short.

Maybe I could be a bit selfish for today to at least be able to go out to dinner like we had planned for the night before. To be honest, Clark went home a few hours ago and despite what I say, I don't really want to be alone right now.

After a moment of silence with Bruce just staring at me from the back of my couch as I stood by the entrance to the kitchen, I say, softly, "Thank you for coming, Bruce," betraying my earlier words. Bruce studies me for a moment or two longer before nodding his head slowly.

"You're welcome, Sam. Do you need a moment to change?" He asks, gesturing to my sweat pants and big t-shirt.

I nod. Normally I would probably go out like I was - a slob at heart - but I am certain I would feel uncomfortable next to Bruce who was wearing a nice suit. I don't even know if he was working today or if the suit is just seamlessly integrated into his wardrobe after years of only being able to wear that to work. It would make sense.

"Yeah," I walk up to my bedroom portion of the room and to my closet, "just give me a moment."

Bruce oh so nosily takes this time to check out my apartment while I pull out some jeans, that don't have holes in them, and a nice top that I would wear for nicer occasions but not necessarily formal occasions. I will look a bit shlumpy next to him, but at least it's better than what I'm wearing now. I step into my bathroom and quickly change into my jeans and top before stepping out and slipping on some shoes to find to find Bruce over by my book case, looking through my plentiful collection of books, old and new.

He pulls one off the shelf and turns toward me holding it up for me to see. "You don't know anything about the stock market," he says accusingly.

"Says who?" I respond, indignant. I walk over to the kitchen to grab a simple jacket to gingerly pull on. Bruce gives me a look. One part saying that he say how difficult it was for me to pull on my jacket, and two, he didn't believe my paper thin claim on having any understanding of the stock market. "Okay, I don't know anything, so what?" I says, shrugging my left shoulder, nonchalantly.

Bruce waves the book around a bit. "Then why would you have a book writing specifically on playing the stock market game?"

I match his condescending tone. "It's not every day someone you know personally writes a published book. So what if I don't understand it, I'm supporting you. What's the big deal?"

Bruce shakes his head slowly. "You shouldn't waste your money on something like this."

"Says the author," I mutter, shaking my own head. "And besides, it's never too late to pick up a new tidbit of knowledge of a trait I know nothing about." He and I stare at one another for a long moment, before I give in. "Okay, fine, I tried to read it, got a chapter and a half in before I realized I was watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I'm sorry!" I hold my hands up in defeat.

Bruce smiles with a touch of playfulness, putting the book back down in it's place on my bookshelf. "That's what I thought."

I send him a half hearted glare. "Shut up. Are we going to go, or not?" I make a little gesture toward my front door.

Bruce nods, walking around my couch and over to me. He makes a sweeping gesture for me to go ahead of him. "Lead the way, Sam."

* * *

It's strange, being back at the hotel we were at just hours before. There is caution tape surrounding the hotel and part of the street as well where debris from the building had fallen onto the pavement. Plus, there is signs of battle that I hadn't noticed the night before. Probably from when the League was fighting the monster last night and it was batting them away like annoying flies.

I stop by one of the craters, looking down at it for a moment before making my way over to the caution tape where one of the police officers was talking into the radio on his shoulder. He pauses when we get close to him.

"Move along, please." He makes a sweeping gesture away as if we didn't know which way to go.

"We were here last night for the party," I tell him. "My purse was lost in the havoc. What steps do I need to take in order to try and retrieve my things?"

The officer sighs. "A lot of things were misplaced in the attack yesterday, ma'am. If your purse was located, we will call you as soon as everything is processed," he says formally.

"Call what?" I ask. "My cellphone? It was in my purse."

The officer stares at me for a moment. "I understand, ma'am, but we can't simply allow people to go trudging around a crime scene. The structural integrity of the hotel may have been compromised in the attack yesterday. I'm sorry, I simply cannot allow you to go in there."

I run my hand through my hair a bit flustered. Before we left my apartment I went in search of my purse, forgetting that I didn't have it. I went to check the messages on my phone, didn't have that either. I feel so disconnected from the world without my cellphone. I really am a twenty-first century girl. I have been carrying around a purse since I was fifteen years old, now that I'm without it, I feel naked.

The officer stares back at me, he at least as the decency to appear sympathetic to my problem. "I am sorry, ma'am, there is nothing that I can do for you."

I sigh, nodding slowly, having half expected this. "It's fine. Thank you."

"We will try and locate your possessions and return them to you as soon as we can," he says, hesitates, then pulls out a notepad. "May I have your name and some way to contact you?"

"My name is Samantha Kennedy," I pause, then glance over at Bruce, who nods. "This is my cousin, Bruce Wayne, if you can give him a call when my things are located, he'll be able to notify me."

"May I get your contact information, Mr. Wayne?" the officer asks, looking over at Bruce. As Bruce gives the officer his cellphone information, I turn my attention toward the sky. I wonder if that invisible monster is up there somewhere. It was able to cloak itself so perfectly that no one knew it was there until it was right on top of us and let us know that it was.

How does someone prepare for something like that, I don't know. How do you fight something you can't see? Well, if anyone can do it, it would be the Justice League. That, at least, I believe to be true. I just hope that no one else has to get hurt in order for that to happen. I know that such a desire is a foolish and unrealistic one, but it's my wish and I'll cling to it if I must.

* * *

We went to get lunch after that. I think Bruce was trying to get my mind off of what happened, both today and last night, but he must have noticed that it occupied my mind regardless, and gave in.

"How are you doing?" He asks, watching me pick at my salad.

I look up at him slowly, forcing a little smile. "It's okay. I'm a little off today, but I'll be okay."

"I can understand that," Bruce says. "You had quite the ordeal yesterday, didn't you?"

I huff. "We all did. It's just..." I hesitate, then look over at him. "Batman saved me, Bruce. Can you believe that?"

Bruce's eyebrow raise a fraction of an inch. "Oh?" He says, taking a bite of his own salad.

I nod. "I was in the stairwell of the hotel heading down when the monster reached into the stairwell and grabbed a bunch of people out. It left this big gaping hole that I suppose in someone's panic they pushed me out of it. I..." I hesitate, laying down my fork and putting my head into my hands. "I thought I was going to die, but he saved me. Caught me right out of the air. I've never been so scared in my entire life."

"I'm glad that you're okay," Bruce says, pressing his lips tightly together. "But you are hurt, aren't you?" I look up at him, surprised. "I see it in the way you have been favoring your right side."

I shake my head slowly. "Don't do that, Bruce."

Bruce stares at me, a frown pulling at the corners of his lips. "Do what, Sam?"

"See this as more than what it is," I say, locking eyes with him. "If I didn't die from falling from that height, than I at least would have broken a lot of things. I owe Batman my life. It's because of him that I am not in the hospital today, or in the morgue. If he was right in front of my now I would thank him. Don't try and get me to say that me being hurt was somehow attributed to his lack of..." I wave my hand around, not knowing what to call it exactly. "I won't let you do that. I know how hypocritical you are. So don't say it."

Bruce shakes his head. "I wasn't going to say anything. No need to get upset."

I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I think... maybe I'm tense."

Bruce nods slowly. His blue eyes shine in understanding as he studies my face for a few seconds. He opens his mouth, about to say something, when he closes it again. He take a deep breath, then takes a sip of his water before turning his gaze toward the window we are next to. I thought he was going to say something, but it seems like he's changed his mind. I wonder what he's thinking, but judging by his posture and the way his jaw is working, while there is something bothering me, I see he's settling for letting it fester.

I hate it when he does that.

He needs to lighten up. I think we both do.

An idea comes to me before I can stop it. As soon as it crosses my mind, I knew it was best for both of us. With the excitement of the last few hours, I think something to get all of our minds off of this horrible last two days would be a blessing. Plus, I think Lois would like it.

"Bruce," I call out.

"Yes?" His blue eyes slide over to me.

"Are you free tonight?"

He raises an eyebrow. "For?"

"Something to get our minds off of the monster yesterday. Maybe blow off a bit of steam in a friendly competition?" I smile, knowing I caught him with the word: competition. I knew how to get Bruce, and as soon as his eyes narrowed slightly, I knew it was done.

"What do you have in mind?" he asks.

"Can I borrow your phone?" I ask instead, unable to stop the smile from crossing my lips. Bruce narrows his eyes a bit, but doesn't complain. He offers me his phone, curiously.

* * *

"I have no idea," Lois says, staring at me blankly. "Ask Diana. I don't know."

I turn my attention to the other woman in the room, on the opposite side of the couch than Lois on my other side. "Diana, are you ready?"

Diana, who was staring out the window for a moment, turns her ice blue eyes toward me and nods. "Yes, I'm sorry I wasn't listening to the question. What was it again?"

"What is the name of the boy who flew too close to the sun and melted his wax wings?" I ask.

Diana blinks once, slowly. "Icarus."

"Oh, shit!" Lois says, throwing her hands up. "I should have known that!"

"You're right!" I exclaim. "Great job, Diana!"

Diana smile faintly, amused by something. Her blue eyes flicker over to Clark and Bruce, the former of which smiling back as if he was in on the secret too. Bruce just shakes his head. Diana's smile widens a bit at Bruce. They share a bit of communication with their eyes but neither say anything. Their connection is apparent, even if Bruce seems to be a bit closed off from it.

"Thank you, Samantha," Diana says, sounding pleased.

"Alright, suck it, Smallville!" Lois says, moving our game piece forward the correct amount of spaces.

Clark rolls his eyes and grabs the card from the top of the pile for their trivia game. "Okay. It's an act this out."

"Good luck," Lois sings.

Clark laughs. "It's kind of an easy one." Lois frowns at that as Clark stands up, holding four fingers and runs in place. She flips the little sand timer over.

"Running?" Bruce guesses. Clark nods before holding up three figures. "Third word?" He holds up four fingers. "Fourth word?" Clark shakes his head, holding up three fingers. "Oh," Bruce says. "Third word; four. Or, for." Clark nods, then points to my laptop, then me. Bruce stares at Clark. "Running blank for laptop? That doesn't make sense." Clark glances down at the little sand timer before holding up two fingers and then pointing to his watch. Bruce shakes his head. "Running time for lap- oh, running late for work!"

"Yes!" Clark laughs, pointing at him just as time ran out.

"Damn," I mumble.

"Arguably, most of that wasn't really acted out," Diana points out, pushing her long pitch black hair over her shoulder.

Lois shakes her head. "That is some actual bullshit. We get something from Greek mythology and those two male chauvinistic bread winners get running late to work? What the hell kind of sexist game is this?"

I laugh. "Come on, Lois, it's not so bad. Remember that we got kitchen earlier."

"Which is even more sexist. Why didn't I put this together earlier?" Lois shakes her head. "This game is bogus."

"You're just saying that because we're winning now," Clark says, smirking playfully at the glare Lois sends his way. Lois trills, annoyed, waving her hand around dismissively.

"Keep on dreaming, Smallville, it's a good look on you."

I stand up. "I'm going to get some drinks, any preferences?"

"Water," Bruce says. Diana nods. Lois waves her hand around dismissively while Clark says, "Anything is fine." A pause, then, "I can help you."

I shrug. "Sure, thank you."

Clark follows me into the kitchen and I take a moment to grab out a pill bottle and pop a few pills to try and ease the pain in my shoulder and right side, which Clark offers an understanding look. Once I swallow them down with some water, I fill up a few more cups and Clark helps me carry them into the living room. We pass everyone their drinks and settle back into place.

"Ready?" Lois asks, pulling out her card and holding it up so that we can't see the answer. I look over at Diana, when she nods, I do too and we both turn our attention to Lois. "Okay, this one isn't too bad, I guess. At least it's not sexist." Lois shrugs her shoulders.

"That narrows it down," I mutter.

Diana's eyebrows pull together. "Is that considered a hint?"

"And therefore cheating, yes," Clark says playfully. Lois glares at him.

"Okay, I just need to- oh, shit, it's an act it out." She throws her hands up in exasperation. "What kind of bullshit game is this? How the hell am I suppose to act this out?"

"Well, you have about forty seconds to figure it out," Bruce says, flipping the timer over.

"Okay!" Lois jumps to her feet and looks around the room before pointing at Diana.

"Diana?" I guess. Lois glares at me before making a wild gesture from Diana to me to herself.

"Girls?" Diana guesses. Lois makes a face at that but gives up. She runs over to my bookcase and grabs off of it and covers up most of the title until only one word remains: Wonder.

"Wonder girl?" I guess, then realize. "Oh, Wonder Woman!"

Lois nods, pressing her lips closed tightly so she can't speak. She looks around wildly for something else to help her but gives up and starts waving her hands around wildly.

"Wings?" I guess. "A bird?"

Lois points at me and flaps her arms again.

"Blue bird? Falcon? Dove? Hawk?" Diana guesses, leaning forward in her seat. Lois looks to be in physical pain. She waves her hands around.

"Something with wings?" I guess. Lois nods. "A dragon!" Lois frowns, grabbing a pillow off the ground and throwing it at me. I barely catch it before it hits me in the face. "I don't see how this helps us, Lois!"

"Oh, I think I know what she's saying," Clark says, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. Lois flips him the finger before continuing. She flaps her hands around for a moment longer.

"Something to do with Wonder Woman," Diana says, looking over at me.

"Oh!" I gasp. "Batman!"

"Finally!" Lois yells before looking around something to help her again before noticing that they were quickly running out of time. She curls her hands into fists before placing them onto her hips, puffs out her chest and looks up toward the sky.

"Superman!" Diana and I guess at the same time, then start laughing. Diana blue eyes flicker to the man across us for a brief moment, eyes glittering in amusement, before she turns back to Lois.

"Good!" Lois says. "Now..." she brings her hands together as if crumbling a piece of paper.

"Uhh," I say blankly. "What does that mean?"

"Something about Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman?" Diana says.

"Who is that suppose to be?" I ask. "Hawk Girl? Martian Manhunter? Flash? Green Lantern?"

Diana gasps. "Oh! The Justice League!" She jumps to her feet, pointing at Lois.

"Yes!" Lois screams, launching herself into the taller woman's arms, hugging her tightly. "I love you! I love you!" She quickly pulls away to point at a clearly amused Clark. "Suck it, Smallville!"

Clark laughs. He looks like he's about to say something, but then decides against it. He shakes his head instead, glancing over at Bruce who looked slightly less amused. Diana actually starts laughing, running her long fingers through her hair before standing up and walking toward the bathroom with a quiet, "Excuse me."

"Whew," Lois says, plopping down on the couch next to me. "I am tired. That one exhausted me. Okay, boy's turn." She waves her hand around dismissively as if giving them permission to go.

Once Diana comes back from the bathroom we play to the conclusion of the game - to which Bruce and Clark ultimately came out victorious - before they decide to head out for the night seeing as Bruce, Clark and Lois had work in the morning. I'm not sure what Diana does for a job, but she didn't mention having to get up early like the rest of them, and I make my own hours.

As they all piled up at the door, I hold it open for them. "Thank you guys for all coming tonight. I think I really needed it."

"No problem," Lois says easily, pulling me into a tight hug that hurts my arm, but I'm too relieved about having forgotten about the ordeal the night before for the evening that I don't even care. I hug her back just as tightly. "I've wanted to start up something like this, so I'm glad we did it."

We separate as Clark says, "We'll have to do this more often." He and I hug too. Knowing about my arm, he's very gentle, offering me a thousand watt smile when I nod in agreement.

"Thank you for inviting me, Samantha," Diana says smoothly, looking down at me. Even in simple jeans and a plain white t-shirt that maybe is a bit too small and clings to her curvy figure, makes her look beautiful. "I had a good time tonight."

"Me too," I admit. "I would love it if we could do something again soon."

Diana nods. "Yes, I would as well. Thank you."

Lastly Bruce steps up to me and I hug him tightly. "Bye, cuz. I'll see you again soon, yeah?"

"Yes," Bruce says, assuredly. "Be safe. I will let you know when the police call me about your belongings."

I nod, hugging him a bit tighter before pulling back. "Don't be a stranger."

Bruce looks mildly amused. "I won't."

With that, they all leave. I head back into my living room and clean up the glasses on my coffee table and put the board game back onto my shelf. As I'm putting away the extra pizza that we ordered for dinner there is a knock on the door. Confused, I walk back over to it, as I'm opening it up, I ask, "Did you forget something?"

"Hello, Samantha. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

My eyes widen in surprise at the man standing in front of me in a nice suit and tie. He smiles charmingly when I finish taking in his appearance and look up into his eyes.

Surprised, I mumble, "Lex Luther?"

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. AndrianaWarrior7: Aww, thank you. It can't always be Superman, right? Besides, he has connections with other people at that party besides just Sam. He also had Lois. He was busy making sure she was safe, it had to be Bruce. Thank you! I'm sorry about the wait!_

 _2\. stubs1101: Of course! You were kind enough to take time out of your day to let me know how I'm doing! Yeah, nothing can be revealed just yet, I already know how we are going to get the big Superman reveal, but it can't be right now. The way that I see it, Clark deals with people every day doing what he does, he would be freaked out over a bruised arm and scrapped feet. Just offer some advise and move on. She's not going to die from it, and he knows that. She's strong. She'll be fine. It's a bit more mundane in this chapter. But that ending though! *eyebrow waggle*_

 _3\. .2016: Thank you!_

 _4\. Lloyd RPGFan: See, me neither. I hate that they are the center of everyone's universe. I'm trying hard not to make that true in this one. Sam is just as much part of this story as anyone else is. They all have their own lives and interactions with one another. It's not always about her. Even this story, while she is the one we are seeing the world through, it's actually not really about her and that will become clearer as the story progresses. Aww, thank you! I'm starting to see how cute they are too! I just love Diana and Bruce, but their interactions are somewhat limited still, which is a shame. But there is more to come! I promise!_

 _5\. Guest: I'm sorry! Hmm, I wonder. :D Thank you! I'm glad it's not too obnoxious. Thank you so much! I'm sorry about the wait!_

 _6\. Scarlett Winds: It is! Thank you so much! I didn't do a good job hiding it, huh? XD He's intrigued, but I think a part of him realizes that while he's got to be careful, he's also in the perfect place to her. He can see what she sees without worrying that she suspects anything. And I say that in a way that doesn't make it seem like their friendship is a fraud, because it's not. They genuinely like one another. We will be seeing more of Justin and the Monster soon enough. I'm sorry for the wait!_


	8. Relationships

**Author's Note: I am so happy that y'all are sticking with this story! I am sorry about the wait! I have been so busy with other stories and life that I haven't been able to get this story the love that it deserves. I hope that you guys are still enjoying it, though. We are moving forward, slowly but surely. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,037**

"Hello Samantha," Lex says, a small half smile on his lips. I am too stunned for a moment, trying to connect the face I see in my memory from long ago to the one standing before me now. I have seen pictures of Lex in the papers and seen him in the news, but it's different to see him in person. I could remember long ago, when we were kids, that he used to be quiet and reclusive. A real genius that didn't like the attention of the people on him. I wouldn't say that we were friends, or that we kept in touch over the years, but we did know each other and met on more than a handful of occasions.

I blink a few times, trying to pull myself from my stupor. I give myself a little shake and open my door, welcoming him into my apartment, courteously.

"Lex Luthor," I say slowly, as he passes me by and into my apartment. I'm glad that I cleaned up so that everyone could come over without knowing just how much of a slob I am. "I can't believe that you're here. What has it been? Over ten years since I last saw you?"

Lex smiles charmingly down at me, stopping by the back of my couch and turning toward me. "It has been."

"What are you doing here?" I ask, leaning against the wall at the entry way, being careful not to put any pressure on my shoulder. I must look strange. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, I'm just surprised."

"I know you," Lex says amused. "I know how you are. To be honest," he looks around for a moment, taking in my apartment - which I'm sure is homely in comparison to what he's used to - before looking back over at me without the slightest shift in his facial expression to show what he must have thought about my home, "I was a bit... apprehensive about coming out to see you seeing as it has been so long, but when I heard about what happened, I knew that I had no choice but to come."

I quirk an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Lex holds up a bag I hadn't realized he was carrying. I immediately recognized it, though.

"My purse!" I fly over to him, practically snatching it from his hand. I immediate go through the contents, seeing that pretty much everything was still in there, but to my dismay, my phone's screen is cracked. That can be replaced. I don't care about that too much. My wallet and business contact book is still in there, too. My purse itself is dirty, mud caked onto the side of it and a man's footprint on it, like someone stepped on it and left it dirtied. I don't care. I can have it cleaned.

I look up at him, eyes wide. "How in the word did you get this?"

Lex looks amused by the question, like it was silly of me to ask that. "I owned the building and stumbled across it while surveying the damage. I recognized the pattern on the purse. It used to be your mother's, right?"

I stare at him, honestly impressed beyond belief. "I can't believe you remember that. What a random thing to recall after years!"

Lex, admittedly, looks abashed. "Well, I remembered it because it was one of a kind. Your mother used to do handwork patches on purses and bags and things, if I recall. Some of my mother's favorite work came from Victoria."

I smile at him, surprised by his memory. "I can't believe you remember something like that." I shake my head and Lex looks embarrassed. He takes a moment to clear his throat and smooth his expression out.

"Yes, well, when I saw it, I knew that I had to bring it out for you. Forgive me, I got your address off your driver's license."

I wave my hand around, dismissively. I don't even care about that. I thought that the chances of me getting this back was slim to none, let alone with everything still being in there, so the fact that it is okay and everything is inside works for me. I'm willing to look past a childhood - acquaintance? - looking around in my purse to find my address so that I can get it back. I don't care about it. I appreciate beyond belief that he would actually deliver it to me, personally.

"Thank you, Lex," I say, looking up at him and offering a smile. "I appreciate that you took the time to bring this to me."

"Imagine my surprise that you were here," Lex says, smiling back. "I didn't even know you were here in Metropolis. We need to catch up some time. But later. I'm sure we've both had a long couple of days."

I nod, walking to the door with him following me. "Yeah," I say, illusively. Lex has been on the news the last few years for not-so-upstanding reasoning. Sure, I knew him years and years ago, but we haven't spoken since about ten years ago. We weren't exactly close either, and the last thing I want to do is be involved with someone who hasn't been charged with doing anything wrong, but has been "suspected" of it more times than I can count. I do appreciate him bringing my purse to me, especially personally, and everything that Luthor Corp has done for me over the years, but I'm not sure how much I want to spend with him, but I'm not ungrateful.

I open the door and step aside to give him space. "Thank you, Lex, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Lex says, smiling down at me before leaving. I wait until he disappeared down the hall before closing the door. I double check to make sure that everything is in my purse, it is, before grabbing my damaged phone and running to my bedside to plug it in and see if it worked. It's powering up, but heavily damaged, the screen is flickering, making it impossible to read, even through the latticework of cracks.

I'm going to need to get it fixed somehow. But I don't have the money to be able to do that right now. Unless...

* * *

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Oh!" I say, surprised, looking at the boy in front of me. He has to be fifteen or sixteen years old. I wasn't expecting to see him when the door opened. I was more expecting to see Alfred or even Bruce, but not this young boy. I don't even have the faintest idea who he is. "I'm sorry. I was looking for Bruce. Is he, um, is he here?"

The boy, with large, keen blue eyes, stares at me, nearly as tall as me. "He is, but he's busy. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well, um, I..." I stare at him. "I'm sorry. I don't recognize you. Who are you? How do you know Bruce?"

The boy tilts his head to the side, wild dark hair barely moving when he does. I'm a little distracted by it. His dark hair is the same color as Bruce and Clark's yet they keep their hair nice and neat as hard working adults, this boy's demeanor belies his youth. It's kind of interesting to see. And a very odd comparison to make, at least in my opinion.

"I'm Dick Grayson, and you are?" Grayson, not Wayne. I am so confused right now.

"I am Samantha Kennedy," I say, eyeing him curiously. I can't figure out what this boy is doing in Bruce's house. It hasn't been _that_ long since I last spoke to Bruce before moving to Metropolis. There is no way he would have had a kid without saying anything to one of his only living family members. And I doubt he said something to Bailey and she managed to keep her big yap shut about it.

At the blank look the teen sends my way, I quickly add, "I'm Bruce's cousin." Wait, why did I have to explain myself to a kid? I should just tell him to bring Bruce to the door. I'm family, so I should be able to just walk in. Right? I mean, I have never dealt with this before. Alfred usually answered the door and let me right in on the very few occasions that I came to Gotham to visit Bruce for pleasure or when I need a place to crash for a night because of business. This boy being here is a new one.

The boy's blue eyes widen in surprise. "You're related to Bruce?" His eyebrows shoot toward his hairline. "I didn't know that he had family."

"I... see," I say slowly. "Well, Di... uhhh..." I am such a fucking child. It's his name! I need to grow up! "Di..." I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing I could just sink into the ground. "I need to speak with Bruce now, please." I suck. I really suck. I hear on tv, people named Dick, but I was never the type of person to say such things aloud. It's his name, yet my mind is elsewhere, thinking it vulgar. I'm not like that. I don't talk like that. I was taught better than to be like that, even as a teenager. Cursing? Okay, fine, whatever. But I never was vulgar or crude. It just never who I was. Such words - even though it's his _name_ \- was never something that I would say. I'm sure I'm making this weird.

The teen laughs, amused, which is a relief. There is a childish twinkle in his eyes as he lets me stutter on for a minute or two more before finally letting me go. "You can call me Richard if you really can't call me Dick."

I actually let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Thank you. Richard, can I speak with Bruce it's kind of a personal emergency."

Richard grins playfully, looking like he wanted to play around a bit more, but then decides against it. His personality has done almost an entire one-eighty from what he was giving me earlier. He was so cold when he opened the door, now he's smiling at me as if we are long time friends.

"Sure," Richard says, stepping aside and making a sweep of his hand. "Come on in. I'll go see where he is. Wait here."

I nod, closing the door slowly behind me as the teen disappears around the corner, exiting the extravagant foyer. It's been quite a few years since I was last here, but it looks the same. With two men living here and not being overtly fashion oriented, the house has nice décor, but dated. It makes me smile, some things simply never change.

I must have been waiting in the foyer - feeling like I'm standing in the house of a stranger and not of family - for almost three entire minutes before Bruce comes jogging into the room, looking at me with wide, curious eyes. He slows down once he gets close. I can see Richard round the corner a bit, watching with an intrigued look on his face.

Bruce opens his arms for me and we hug for a moment, kissing each other's cheek before pulling apart. Yes, definitely not a man of many PDA actions even if it's platonic and with family. In the safety of his own home. With a single teenage boy that I still haven't figure out his connection to Bruce. Yet he is still as she would have expected of him. He shows his affection, but in his own ways. It's not about the hug that they shared or the kiss on the cheek that showed his love. It was how he placed his hand on my back to guide me, noting for me to be mindful of the creaking floorboard that they still haven't fixed on their way to the dining room.

It was things like that that help remind me how much he loves me. That one of my favorite things about Bruce. It's not about what is said, but about the actions, that's how he conveys everything.

"I wasn't expecting you to visit," Bruce says, leading me into the dinning room, pulling out a chair for me to sit.

"Thank you," I say, sitting. "And I'm sorry that I came unannounced, but I actually got my purse back, which includes my phone, but it was very badly damaged. It turns on, but the screen is so broken that I can't use it. I was wondering if the brilliant and wonderful Bruce Wayne would be able to... fix it?" I offer a coy smile, hoping that I look more innocent than devious. Like my reasoning for coming here wasn't anything but out of love. I need his help, yes, but I also miss him. He's my cousin and we don't spend nearly as much time together that I think we should.

"Sure," Bruce says, holding his hand out for it. "Let me see."

"I love you," I gush, digging out my damaged phone and place it into his palm.

He fiddles around with it for a minute, before holding up a finger and stepping out of the room. "Give me a minute to grabs some tools." Bruce has always been fix-y. He's been the person that we call when things don't work, seeing as my brother wasn't like that. I am so thankful to have moved closer to Bruce, I'm not capable of fixing anything, I hope he's ready for me to visit all the time for these little favors.

"I didn't know Bruce had any family," Richard says, sitting down in the chair next to me.

"You know about his parents?" I ask, giving him a side glance. Dick nods, a small frown on his lips. "Well, we lost touch a time ago but were able to reconnect. My siblings and I - who are the only other real living relatives - live pretty far away and don't get to see him often. Holidays on a very rare occasion, but these last few years, Bruce has been so busy that we didn't want to bother him so we've kept our distance to give him space."

Richard nods slowly, eyes lowering to the wood grain on the table, staring at it as if it was the most fascination thing in the room. I wonder what is on his mind. What it is that he's lost himself in?

Richard's blue eyes lower to the wood grain of the table, thoughtful about something. I don't know what it is, but somehow, I can't say anything. I don't know if I should break him of it. I can't tell just by looking at him if what he's seeing is something good or bad. It's at moments like this where I was able to read people in a more mundane sense. I could read the actions of aliens and people with extraordinary powers - not in the super sense, but normal humans capable of doing things that others can't. Like the Flash, and even Batman.

"Can I ask you something, Samantha?" Richard asks, bringing himself back on his own.

I stare at him, curious. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Why has Bruce never mentioned you or the rest of your family before?"

I reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, wondering how to answer that. Bruce let this boy into his home, something that isn't common for Bruce to do unless he is comfortable with them - or he's trying to be fancy. But he's not trying to impress this boy, he comfortable around him. At least enough to be himself around the younger boy. Which is saying something.

"Bruce has always been a very private person, even when we were kids. After his parents died and all the attention of the world turned to him, he wanted a piece of solitude that was only for him, somewhere for only him to go when he needed to. Somewhere not tainted by the media. That was us," I tell him. "When my parents died, he wanted to keep the tragedy separate from one another. Our grief for the loss of our parents was for us. He didn't want the media to somehow spin a theory without basis."

Richard nods slowly. "So he doesn't talk about you much. I get it." He runs a hand through dark, tousled hair, looking around again with large blue eyes.

Right on time, Bruce comes walking into the room, with a small case and sits down at the table, opening it up and digging around inside. He starts pulling out small tools and a small piece of glass, taking a moment to measure it before clicking his tongue, getting up and leaving the room with the glass. I glance over at Richard to see him shaking his head dismissively. Bruce returns a moment later before sitting down and getting to work.

"Bruce," I say, after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm?" He hums, not looking up from where he's working.

"Thank you for helping me," I tell him, running my fingers through my hair, working through the knots that formed there.

"No problem," Bruce says, still not looking up. I smile at him, not wanting to bother him anymore. I'm so thankful to have Bruce just across the river to help me out when I need him. I feel a bit bad, but there isn't a whole lot that I can do in return. I'm sure I'll think of something in return. Knowing him, he won't care for repayment. I'll think of something.

"Miss Samantha," Alfred greets, walking into the room, right for me.

I stand up immediately and open my arms for the old man to walk into. "Alfred!" I hug him tightly. "How are you?"

Alfred squeezes me back so tightly I can't help but smile. Such a sweet old man that has come down to visit my family on multiple occasions to help look after us. I know that Bruce asked him to go, but he was just like part of the family. We send him Christmas cards and gifts every year for that and his birthday. We know that he dedicated his life to his work - to Bruce, that we wanted him to know that it never went unnoticed by the people who loved Bruce as well. He didn't have to stick around after Bruce's parents died, but he did, to look after Bruce. To make sure that even when he desperately wants to be, Bruce will never be alone. Someone who loves him will always be close by.

And we will never be able to thank Alfred for his selflessness. He isn't just like family. He _is_ family. I don't know how many times we've called him up over the years - just him - for advice and questions and just to see how he is.

"I'm good, Miss Samantha, how is your shoulder?" He pulls back and immediately goes for it to take a look.

I grab his hands before he can. "I'm okay, Alfred. I didn't come to be doted on." I squeeze them, seeing the protest flickering across his eyes. I know that look.

"Miss Samantha," Alfred sighs, "you and Master Bruce are too much alike. Always too hard on yourselves."

Bruce shakes his head, letting out a soft huff, but doesn't look up from my phone - he's still very much in the zone. I, on the other hand, am locked right on his face. "Oh, Alfred, you have always taken such good care of all of us, even when you didn't have to. We appreciate everything that you do. I can't speak for Bruce, but I know it's nothing serious or for you to worry yourself over. It barely hurts anymore. I promise."

Alfred doesn't believe me. I can see it in his eyes, but thankfully he relents. "If you say so, but please do not hesitate to come speak to me if you need anything. A bruise, however bad, is going to be sore for quite sometime. I do have ointments that I could give to you in order to help alleviate the pain."

"What could a billionaire's butler need ointments specifically for bruises for?" I ask, amused by his doting behavior.

But my question is meant with dead silence. All three of the men in the room stare at me. I know it wasn't all that good of a joke, but it wasn't so bad that Bruce had to actually stop working to look at me like that - what is that look? He looks like he's trying to figure out something that is eluding him easily. There is a thin crease between his eyebrows as he stares at me. Richard looks between myself and Bruce, also trying to consider something as well.

I'm so lost. Why are they looking at me like that? There is something very odd about it. Like they are trying to read something from my expression, but I haven't a clue what that could be. It's interesting though. Like Alfred spoke without thinking, and I grasped at an imaginary string and pulled at it in a joking manner - albeit not a very _good_ joke - and it triggered a response that I wasn't anticipating.

These three are hiding something.

"What?" I ask, feeling the pull of my eyebrows together. "Why are you looking at me like that? It wasn't that bad of a joke, was it?"

Alfred smiles, patting my hands again, as if realizing that I wasn't in on their secret conversation. Which only serves to make me more curious. "I'm sorry, Miss Samantha, it's about young Master Dick," Alfred says, sadly, his smile forced. Richard blinks a few times before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, I'm a bit... rowdy."

Oh yeah, I don't believe that for a second. Whatever it is, I don't really care - although the prospect that one of them is getting hurt and needs that ointment is very concerning to me - but I'm curious as to why they want to keep it from me. I'm trustworthy, I thought. Or, maybe I'm just reading too much into this. It must have been on my face, my lack of belief in Alfred's words.

"Samantha," Bruce says, putting the tools in his hands down onto the table. "Alfred lied for me. Gotham is tough, as you know. We are learning to take care of ourselves and in order to do that, we are physically training our bodies and we get hurt."

I stare at him, surprised that that was the answer no one wanted to give me. It was simple. It made sense. Sure, I wasn't okay with the insinuation that they were getting hurt often trying to be able to protect themselves, but that didn't mean I thought that it was anything too out of the ordinary. Gotham is dangerous, I know this. It's not so strange that they would want to try and be able to defend themselves.

Maybe they are embarrassed about getting hurt? Is it like a male, macho thing? That, I don't think I will ever be able to understand fully, but I do understand enough to know that letting it go should be okay so long as they aren't seriously hurting themselves. Or each other. But so long as they are just trying to keep themselves safe, I can't exactly blame them. I mean, I just finished my self defense classes and I had my fair share of bruises from it. I have no room to talk.

"Oh," I say, looking over at Alfred, "Alfred, why didn't you just say that?"

Alfred hesitates for a moment, before squeezing my hand and shaking his head. "I just didn't want to worry you, Miss Samantha. Please forgive me."

"Oh, Alfred," I murmur, pulling him into a hug. Such a sweet old man. "Thank you."

"Alright," Bruce says, standing up with my phone in his hand. He holds it out to me. "I'm done."

I can't believe that he got it all done with so quickly. I pull away from Alfred before walking over to my cousin and taking my phone from him. I head back over to my purse and pull out the charger, plugging it into the wall and into my phone. After a few moments, the screen lights up and the boot up screen comes on. I feel the weight on my shoulders fall away and I lay my phone down next to the outlet and walk over to Bruce, hugging him tightly, and briefly, knowing how he feels about public displays of affection. Even though we were in his home.

"Thank you, Bruce. I will definitely make this up to you, I promise," I say, pulling back.

Bruce waves his hand around dismissively. "Don't worry about it," he says. "Happy to help."

"I know. Thanks."

* * *

Lois slings her arm over my shoulders. We walk side-by-side down the street. She's being conscientious of my arm and shoulder. It's sore and stiff still, but it's getting a lot easier to move around. It's been two weeks since Bruce fixed my phone and I've been over to visit again. Richard is adorable. He's a fireball that I am starting to enjoy spending time with.

But true to being an adult, we've all been busy. Lois has pulled me out of my house to join the land of the living once more. It's one of those times in an adults life where everyone is busy working and don't have time to spend with one another. But it's nice to get the reprieve once and a while. My work on analyzing the Justice League has been in full swing. There has been a lot of activity in separate cities but then things that require the bulk of the League to intervene in.

I feel like I'm going full circle. I'm analyzing the same thing over and over again. My thesis are fine, and there is endless bounds of what I can talk about in regards to what I've come to learn about them. There is still so much that I want to learn about them, but video footage isn't always the best and in some ways it only tells part of a story. My intrigue is perked the more that I see of them, but I am hitting a bit of a dry spot.

But I'm ready to get away from my computer and out into the world.

"Where are we going, Lois?" I ask, looking up at the darkening sky.

"Dinner," Lois says easily. "Because I am in a great mood and you probably haven't eaten in three days. It's a mutual thing." She winks at me.

"You... know me far better than I thought you did," I admit, pulling her arm from my shoulder so that I can link arms with her. It's easier on my arm and helps me forget how short I am next to her.

Lois lets out a bark of a laugh, adding a bit of pep to her step. It's a bit difficult for me to keep up, but I enjoy her enthusiasm. It's contagious and I find a smile on my face. I quicken up my steps so that they match hers. The sky is darkening and the city is really starting to wake up, more and more people are flooding into the streets, night life coming to life.

"Clark was going to come out with us tonight but he called out at the last second, said he got a lead on a story and had to look into it. So he's coming out tomorrow night," she says, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. She seems indifferent. "Sucks for him. We are going to have a blast tonight."

I laugh, speeding up a little bit. "Well, I'm glad to be out with you tonight. Let's have fun!"

"I am so happy that you agree with me," Lois says, pleased. Her grin is beautiful as she stares ahead, two pearly white lined teeth flashing brighter than the lights coming off the buildings around us.

I hear a roar above me. Like a rumble of thunder that hasn't let up after almost an entire minute. I stop, feeling Lois pull on me a moment before she stops to listen as well. A few more people are looking around as if trying to understand what it was that they are hearing. Good, so it's not just me. I turn around and look up at the sky and see a flash of dark blue and red flying over head, between the skyscrapers, pausing hundreds of feet above us, looking around a moment, red cap billowing behind him, before he turns sharply and flies down the street.

Superman, watching over the city, like a guardian. Once he's gone, the city keeps moving as if he wasn't even there.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. DDLo18: Well, she is! I love Lois! She sure does. Not well, though._

 _2\. AndrianaWarrior7: She does! And this isn't going to be his first appearance. Aww, thank you. I'm worried about keeping Bruce in character. He's a difficult man to write in a family setting. Yep, and they are very oblivious to the fact. XD I'm glad that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D Sorry about the long wait!_

 _3\. stubs1101: Thank you! I still feel bad about the long wait between the chapter. Thanks! Sorry about the wait, again!_

 _4\. .2017: Thank you!_

 _5\. XxOriginalDireWolfHybridxX: Thank you! I am so sorry about the long wait!_

 _6\. princesstrashy: Haha, thank you! Sorry about the wait!_

 _7\. BlackDove WhiteDove: Thank you! I'm so glad that you like Sam. I hope that she can be a likable character that people can relate to. She's not perfect, and she's not extraordinary. She's normal surrounded by the unnatural. XD_

 _8\. Vanafindiel: Nope. :D_


	9. Out

**Author's Note: I am so sorry for the wait, everyone! I haven't forgotten about it, I promise! I've just been working on other stories, working in general, and dealing with life. I am so happy to hear from everyone and I am excited for the new movie to come out. I saw Wonder Woman in theaters and I am amazed. I am in love! I can't wait for more! Sorry it's late coming out and not as long as I would have liked, but it was a good place to stop and I am exhausted after a long day of work. Thank you all for your support so far! I love hearing from you! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing, just language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,200**

There is a knock on the glass next to me. I jump, my heart leaping into my throat, looking over at the large window next to me to see Clark on the other side, smiling apologetically. He points at the open seat in front of me and I nod, waving for him to come on into the shop. He comes in and sits across from me, offering a charming smile.

"I'm sorry," he says.

I raise an eyebrow, closing the thesis I was reading and pushing it to the side so that we can talk. "For scaring the heavens out of me?" I guess, offering a coy smile.

Clark's smile is charming and boyish. "Well, that too."

"Oh," I stress the word, leaning forward on my elbow and smiling at him. "You mean like how you've been avoiding me like the plaque for the last week?" I rest my chin on my palm. I quirk my eyebrow at him, trying to put on a bit of an angry face, even though I'm not really angry. I know what it means to work and be an adult, because I've been one longer than most my age has been, so I know that working is important. He needs to work to survive. I'm not mad that he has to work and be busy.

It doesn't bother me.

Although, I do miss him a bit. Him and Lois have such erratic schedules when dealing with a story that any plans made days in advance are never guaranteed. But I've learned to roll with the punches. I'm still learning how to deal with people, and I think that Lois and Clark have come to really understand my awkwardness and accept it as an unfortunately large part of me.

Clark smiles with a touch of regret. "I'm sorry. I've just been so busy these last few days. I haven't been avoiding you, I promise."

It seems I've failed in trying to appear playfully mad. "It's okay!" I almost yell at him before quickly lowering my voice to a more human-acceptable level. "Sorry. But it's fine. I'm just playing. I know what it means to be an adult. Besides, I've been pretty busy too. One of my colleagues wanted to work with me on a project, that's kind of stretching my area of expertise, but he thinks that it would be an interesting comparison."

Clark tilts his head to the side. "Oh? Can I ask what you're working on?"

"It's comparison between one hero and their respective villain," I tell him.

Clark's dark eyebrows shoot to his hairline. He seems genuinely intrigued by that. "Oh? And how is that out of your expertise?"

I run my hands up and down my arms, feeling the air conditioning for the coffee shop kick on and blast me with cold air from the vent above me. Clark spares a glance up at the vent, then out the window before standing up and gesturing for me to take his chair.

"It's okay-" I start.

"Go ahead," Clark says, gesturing again.

Slowly, I stand and move over to his seat, immediately feeling the heat of the sun beating down on me. It was near a perfect place for the sun to shine through, it was only partially hidden by the building across the street, unlike my seat, which could have doubled as the rumored bat cave. I don't think I've ever met another human being so attuned with other people. It's crazy.

"Thank you," I say slowly, surprised.

Clark grins, lowering himself into my previous seat, pushing his dark rimmed glasses up his nose more securely. "It's not a problem."

"Aren't you cold?" I ask. Then realize what I said, "Or is that not a manly thing to admit to?"

Clark laughs, showing off twin rows of pearly white teeth. "I'm okay, I promise. I've been up and about for hours now. I'm not cold. In fact, if anything, I'm hot." Then he makes a show of pulling at his pressed light blue collar as if to solidify his point more.

"Well, sure," I say slowly, then cringe, hoping that didn't sound inappropriate. I quickly move on, hoping to cover it up, "And as for your question is my study won't be on the hero this time around, but the villain, which isn't what I'm usually looking for. Now I kind of have to see things on the flip side to how I usually do, and it's a bit hard."

Clark's smile doesn't fade, not giving me any idea of what he thought - if he heard - my small verbal slip up, as he asks, "But isn't that a good thing? Getting out of your comfort zone?"

He must not be hearing me when I talk, and that's usually while I'm in my comfort zone. That, or he is simply blinded to imperfections, which could also be the case too. Either way, I can appreciate his faith in me.

"Have you read any of my thesis?" I ask, grabbing my drink and bringing it over to my side and taking a sip.

"I have," Clark says, scratching the back of his head for a moment. "They are interesting, and very in-depth. Did you study psychology in college?"

I nod. "And I took classes in high school. Both psychology and sociology, I majored in. It was always something fascinating to me. I started studying it for fun as a little girl, and just kept to it as I grew older and made my career out of it, but how many would you say you've read?"

Clark rubs at the back of his neck. "I'm not sure. Four or five, maybe?"

I'm surprised. Honestly. I can't believe he actually took the time to read that many of my papers. I don't think I've even reread that many of my works. Once I proof read them and are sure that I've written what I like, I tend to never read them again. I don't know why, I just don't. It's like a chapter in my life, I spend so much time and effort on each and every one, that once I finish it, it's over in my life. I move on.

"Why did you read so many?" I ask, in honest shock.

Clark appears confused, like he didn't understand why I would be shocked. "I thought they were very interesting. You really are good at what you do. I could imagine it was a story of their lives, from their own lips. I'm not sure how much of it is spot on in accuracy, but it flowed nicely and made a lot of sense. It's no wonder you are so popular in your field."

I roll my eyes, embarrassed. "Thanks for that."

Clark's smile is both contagious and beautiful. "What? You are making it sound like you don't believe it. I can't believe how often you've been gifted awards and been mentioned in articles. I'm honestly impressed."

I feel like I can't breath. "Have you been researching me?" I ask, blushing so hard I'm sure I'm redder than a tomato.

"A bit," Clark admitted. "I was actually doing a story that lead me to a source that quoted something from one of your works. It sparked my interest and I couldn't help myself. I had to read some more of your stuff." He hesitates for a moment, trying to read my expression, passed my embarrassment. "Are you mad at me?"

I shake my head, trying to cool down my cheeks. I can't wait for him to stop. Seriously. I am so embarrassed having people talk about me like that. I'm not used to it. I want to move on quickly to something else. I don't know why I asked. "I'm not mad, I promise, just embarrassed. So what are you doing here? Chasing a story?"

Clark offers me a little smile, to show he realized I was trying to change the subject without any grace because my embarrassment is too much. He takes pity on me, though, and moves on. "No, I finished up a few days ago and have some time to myself. It was merely coincidence that I saw you through the window. I felt bad that we couldn't see each other for so long. I was thinking that maybe we should go out and do something sometime this week. The fair is in town and it's been a few years since I last went."

I tuck a loose strand of black hair behind my ear, feeling better that he allowed the subject to change. "That sounds great! Should I invite Lois?"

Clark's charming smile spreads wide as he looks away, raising his eyebrows high up toward his hairline. "If you want. But I was thinking that maybe just you and I could go." He looks up at me through long dark lashes and my heart didn't skip one beat, or two, or even three. It had to of just stopped beating all together, or perhaps it started beating so fast that I lost the ability to be able to feel it, either way, I'm breathless. I could never say no to that look, even if I was insane enough to want to!

"Just us..? Like, as in a date?" I ask softly, leaning close, worried that if I spoke too loud I would break the obvious hypnosis that I seem to have had on him to get him to willingly ask _me_ out on a date. "A date between us? You and me?"

Clark lets out a little laugh, leaning close to so that our eyes lock together. I'm sure that I am completely red. "Yes. If that's okay with you, I mean." I can't believe it. I've had this little, tiny, _minute_ baby crush on Clark since I met him a few months ago, I can't believe that he is actually asking me out right now.

See, I'm not ugly. I know that I'm not. But I'm not overly beautiful either. I've dated like, three people in my entire life. My first was in middle school - and that isn't even dating, especially since it was like two weeks - and my second time was in high school, with an older boy - obviously - for like two days, and then Justin after I graduated college. That was it. He was the boy I was with for the longest time and that kind of ended strangely. It's been a few months since then. Is it appropriate to start dating again?

I hope so.

"That is _definitely_ okay with me," I whisper, eyes wide. "One hundred percent."

Clark pushes up his glasses a bit more to the bridge of his nose. His smile is both beautiful and adorable. He looks down at the table for a moment before looking back up at me. "Good. I'm glad."

I cringe, suddenly realizing how I sound. I lean in a little bit closer, trying to keep my mind off the fact that we were only a few inches apart from one another. "Be honest, that didn't sound completely desperate, did it?" I pull my eyebrows together, worried that he might take his invitation back. That he would realize that I was way too desperate for him.

Clark shakes his head, smiling at me still. "Not at all. It was very kind. I wasn't sure you were going to say yes."

I make a face at him, worried he might be crazy. "You didn't? How could you not? I thought I made my tiny crush completely obvious!"

Clark laughed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down at the gentle sound, crinkles forming around his eyes. "Tiny?"

His laughter intensifies as the horror plays across my face. I slap his hand on the table, trying hard to hide my deep embarrassment. "Clark! Okay, fine! But I'm not trying to make it weird, okay!"

Clark takes my hand and I'm honestly surprised by how large, hot and calloused it is. For a reporter, his hands are a lot stronger than I thought. Maybe it's from years of growing up on the farm, but I was honestly surprised. And I really didn't want him to let go. How very desperate of me.

"I don't think you're weird, Samantha. Don't worry about that. Trust me, in a place like Metropolis which is crawling with all sorts of goodies and badies, I know crazy and weird. You're okay, Samantha, I promise." He squeezes my hand, looking into my eyes reassuringly. "Besides, I think you are very endearing."

I close my hand around his, trying to contain my blush. "Thank you."

Clark doesn't release my hand, easily wrapping his larger one around my own. "Don't mention it."

* * *

"It's good news!"

Bailey doesn't respond right away, probably considering. "I don't know. I'm worried."

"Clark is a good, sweet man, Bailey. Trust me."

"I don't know," Bailey says again.

"So you don't trust me?" I sigh, looking through my closet again, my eyes running over all of my clothes, not seeing anything standing out to me as new, first date material. Most of my wardrobe consists of large t-shirts, jeans, leggings and tank tops. There is hardly anything within my closet or in my dresser that has any sort of... niceness to it. At all.

"No," Bailey says, "I do trust you. You've got a great head on your shoulders. It's everyone else that I don't trust. Other people will try and use and manipulate you into doing what you can for them and you receive nothing in return."

I shake my head, rubbing my shoulder a bit, still feeling the tenseness in it from when I body checked Batman. It's starting to finally lighten up, but it's still this dark, nasty purple mark against my otherwise pasty skin. Maybe I need to go out more to try and get a little bit of color to me. I've very pale.

It's suppose to be a really nice night out tonight. I want to wear something somewhat nice, but I definitely have to cover my shoulders. One, I'm so pasty, if someone shined a flashlight on my skin, it would refract stronger than the moon. And two, I'm just not the type of person that likes to show a lot of skin. I like to wear nice stuff whenever I have a reason too, but I don't know how some people wear some of the things that they do.

"Well, that's okay," I say, going through my clothes again, hoping that something will just magically appear in my closet that is acceptable to wear on a first date. "But isn't something done for the benefit of others not meant to have anything given in return to the person who was doing the good deed?"

"Ha, ha," Bailey says dryly. "You know what I mean. You let people walk all over you. You're bright and wonderful and yet you don't possess a backbone."

I gasp. "Wow! Tell me how you really feel!" I can't believe she just said that! I have a backbone! I wouldn't be able to stand upright if I didn't. Now, I know that's not what she meant but a little part of me wanted to say it because I knew it would make her mad. I'm not a pushover, I know I'm not. I'm just very logical. If something makes sense I go for it. She's wrong if she thinks that I won't fight for what I believe in.

I think.

"You know what I mean," Bailey sighs. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. You're my baby sister. I almost lost you once. I don't want to have to worry about that anymore. Just.. be careful with this guy, okay? If you get even the slightest inkling that something is off about him, run for the hills. I mean it. Don't let it get as bad as Justin."

"Justin was weird, not dangerous," I disagree, feeling the fight leave me despite my earlier words.

Bailey snorts on the other line. "That is up for debate, baby sister. You don't think that he would do anything bad, but I do. I think he's scum of the earth. He couldn't have gotten out of your life any faster, I'm telling you."

"Just help me, please," I sigh, tired of having this conversation every single time. "I want to make a good impression but my wardrobe is about ninety-eight percent lazy bum. I just need some help with this date, Bailey. I want to look nice. I really like Clark, okay? Please help me."

Bailey sighs. "Okay, fine. Um, do you still have that thin powder blue shirt that is kind of form fitting?"

I spin around, looking through the pile of clothes scattered around my room. I dig through one mound, two, before I locate the shirt that she's talking about. "Yes?"

"Awesome, now those cute white skinny jeans and that black jacket with sneakers or something. That'll be good for a date at the fair. Nothing open toed, though," Bailey warns. "Those places are pretty dirty. Oh, and a simple belt and tuck in the front of your shirt."

I can imagine that's going to look good on me. "And what about my hair?"

"Do you have a curling iron yet?"

"No."

"Okay. A straightener?"

"No."

"Um... a hair tie?"

I look down at my wrist. There's like, three there. I'm never on short supply of hair ties. "Yes!"

"Good girl, keep at least one on you in case you want to pull it up during the night."

"That's it?" I ask, trying to recall years ago when I had my first date with Justin. Did I put this much effort into my first date with him? Or is it just Clark? I don't even remember. I mean, it's good. I don't have to put too much more stress into this than I already have. I just really want to make a good impression on Clark, seeing as about ninety-five percent of the rest of the impressions haven't been all that good.

Maybe... maybe I just really like him is all. That, and maybe I died when he asked me out and this is all just could have beens in the afterlife. I don't really know. But what I do know is that I am very excited for tonight.

"Thanks, Bailey," I say. "And don't worry about Clark. He's a very nice man. You'll meet him at some point, even if this doesn't work out and it's just as friends. I know that you're going to like him. Trust me."

Bailey hums quietly for a moment on the other line. I think she's going to do the whole "yeah, okay. Whatever you say, sis" and dismiss it for now because she's stubborn like that and believes that the world is practically filled with only bad people. So I'm surprised when she says, softly, "Do you really think so? Are you sure he's going to be nice to you?"

"Bailey?"

"I just don't want anyone to hurt you, Sammy. I worry about you so much," Bailey says quickly. Then she lets out a long, drawn out sigh before continuing, "Just call me again tonight, okay? I don't care how late. Or send me a text or something when you get home, alright?"

"Bailey," I say softly, "there is no reason for you to worry about me to much. I'll be okay, I promise."

"I know. Please?"

"Okay, fine." I can't deny her. She's only asking me because she's so worried. I can't be angry at her for worrying about me. I know that she's my best friend. The one I tell everything to and she's not used to being away from me. I'm glad that we are so close and that she loves me so much, but it kills me that she is having such a hard time with this. She doesn't like me not being there for her to look after, seeing as she raised me once she got custody of me again after our parents died, and she's one of the few remaining pieces of my family left. Her, my brother, Bruce and her kids.

"Thank you," Bailey says, sounding less pensive now than before. "And have fun."

I hang up and lower onto my bed and sit in silence, thinking about my sister. I miss her. It's hard sometimes with her overprotectiveness, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. Maybe I should go back home for a bit to see her. Maybe that will make both of us feel better. It's been too long. That's it. The next chance I get, I'm going to go back and see my siblings.

With my mind made up, I push the thought of my siblings to the side for now and head for the bathroom to shower real quick before I get ready for my date. My date tonight. My date tonight with Clark.

If I could scream at the top of my lungs in glee and excitement without alarming my neighbors into thinking that I am being assaulted in my apartment and call the police. I just don't got the time for that. I can't be held up because my excitement is starting to get the best of me. I've had this baby crush on him since I met him months ago. I just haven't found anything about Clark that hasn't ended up being endearing to me. He's a gentle, sweet man and I greatly enjoy all of the time that we have spent together.

I just want tonight to be fun. Even if my crush fades or he realizes that I'm not the one for him, and we just end up being friends after all is said and done, I just want us to have fun. I won't ask for anything else.

Once I'm all dressed up and my hair and make-up is done - and simple because I don't really wear make-up unless it's for a special occasion - I pop my contact in and eagerly await for Clark to come pick me up.

* * *

"I'm sorry that I'm late," Clark says as soon as I open the door.

"Hello to you, too," I joke lamely.

Clark offers a thin smile, looking genuinely remorseful. "I'm sorry for being late," he says again.

I swing my now clean purse over my shoulder and step out into the hallway, closing the door and locking it with my keys before stuffing them into my purse again before turning to him. "Don't worry about it, Clark. I was watching the news. Bank robbers tearing up the town? Like they were doing the whole shebang. Robbed the bank, speeding down the interstate, shooting? That's heavy. It was a good thing that Superman was there to stop them before anyone got too seriously hurt." Then a thought occurred to me. "Were you caught up in that?" I look him up and down. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Clark says, holding his hands out for me to see. "I'm okay. I'm not hurt. It just held me up a bit, is all. I didn't want you to think that I was flaking out on you." His dark brows pull together, studying my face for any sign of anger.

I reach out and pat his arm, offering a smile that I hope is reassuring. "I'm not mad, Clark, trust me. I'm just glad that you weren't caught up in all of that and that you're okay. Let's go have fun."

Clark seems relieved, taking one last, close look at my expression before finally, fully, let it go. "It's a bit of a walk, is that okay? Or do you want to take a cab?"

"Walking is fine," I say, heading down the hall with him. "So, tell me about your day?"

 **For the Reviewers:**

 **1\. BlackDove WhiteDove: Thank you! I kind of love writing those moments. She has no idea who they are when not super heroes, so them being in on this secret together, it's all kind of fun. Sam doesn't know what they do. I don't know. I just like writing it. It makes the relationships feel deeper, I suppose. She doesn't gravitate toward them because they are superheroes. But because of who they are as people.**

 **2\. Melissa Fairy: I am! And after so long, yet again!**

 **3\. AndrianaWarrior7: I agree whole-heartedly. Alfred is the best. And we will be seeing more of him! I like the relationship between Bruce and Sam. They get each other and their personalities are kinda similar. Dick, oh my lord, I am going to have a lot of fun writing him. He's playful, serious, and cunning. This is going to be great! Oh yes, Lex will appear again soon.**

 **4\. .2017: Thanks!**

 **5\. Melissa: Thank you! I love Clark/Superman. I am glad that you like Sam! I would hate to make her too unbelievable or Mary Sue like. I want her to be as legitimate as possible. She's not perfect and she's not the center of the world. She's flawed and trying her best not to be. I hope that she stays in your favor!**

 **6\. Melissa (again?): Huh, I never thought of that. Henry Cavill is who I imagined as Superman, but I won't dispute you're own vision of him. Either works fine with me. :D**

 **7\. CrazyPhenom: Thank you! I couldn't have a story with Batman without Alfred, it just wouldn't be right. He's an integral part of Batman's story. And Clark will always be watching over the city. It's important to him. :D**

 **8\. stubs1101: Oh no, please don't worry! I'm glad that you came back to read it! I am so sorry about the wait! I liked writing that too. Dick is just too funny! I am so happy that you still like her, that means a lot to me!**

 **9\. Guest: Thanks, I think! :D**

 **10\. SoraMalfoySlytherin: Yep! Jason, huh? I never thought to bring Jason into the story. Barry Allen and Wally West, oh lordy. XD Ah yes, the hidden eye! That will be revealed soon enough!**


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